Labor & Employment Law

Join Trumka, Sebelius for Health Care Reform Webinar Today

By Mike Hall

If you are a union member with questions about what the new health care reform law means for you and your family, the place to be this afternoon is www.hhs.gov/live. From 4 to 5  (EDT), AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will host a live webinar on the Affordable Health Care Act.

You can submit you questions before and during the webinar at healthreform@hhs.gov. In the subject line, be sure to put ?Question for AFL-CIO Webchat.?

Union members? negotiated health care benefits will continue under their current collective bargaining agreements. But plans will have to make some improvements under the new law.

Along with the Q&A, Sebelius will present a progress report on what the new law has done since President Obama signed it March 23. The law will be implemented in stages through 2014. But beginning Sept. 23, insurance companies can no longer:

• Deny coverage for children based on pre-existing conditions.
• Rescind or take away coverage based on an unintentional mistake on an application.
• Set lifetime limits on coverage.
• Restrict their use of annual limits.

The new rules also ensure consumers can choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician they want from a plan?s provider network, see an OB-GYN without needing a referral and receive out of network emergency care without prior approval. By the time law is fully implemented, it will extend coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans. Click here for a five-page fact sheet on the health care reform law.

Last week, HHS launched a new website, HealthCare.gov to serve as the nation?s ?helpdesk? for health care reform questions. You can find extensive information on insurance carriers an their policies, on acquiring health insurance if you a have a pre-existing condition, Medicaid and Children?s Health Insurance Program in the country.

The site also provides information on prevention and how to stay healthy; comparisons of health care providers and quality care; steps to fully implementing the new health care reform law and special sections for families with children, individuals, people with disabilities, seniors, young adults and employers.

Several brochures and other resources are available, too, including:

• The $250 Medicare prescription drug ?donut hole? rebate, here.
• Young Adult Coverage Fact Sheet, here.
• How to use a new Internet portal to help individuals and small businesses identify insurance options in their state, here.

Click here to find out about health care reform?s impact on various communities, including African Americans, Latinos, women, small businesses, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Americans with disabilities, the LGBT community and veterans.

Be sure to click on www.hhs.gov/live for the webinar and send your questions to healthreform@hhs.gov with ?Question for AFL-CIO Webchat? as the subject line.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on July 07, 2010 (boomark / email).