A massive health care system reform could result in a change for uninsured Wayne State students. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act promises to extend health care coverage to many who are currently uninsured.
According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, young adults have the highest uninsured rate at 29.7 percent, with black and Hispanic residents at 19 percent. White residents are almost half as likely to be uninsured at 10.3 percent.
Passed by the Senate last year, the PPACA expects to resemble the final bill President Barack Obama will sign after the Joint Conference Committee resolves the differences between the Senate and House versions. Alterations are nothing new to the 2,400-page bill. The 10th title containing amendments provides more clarity.
An amendment introduced by Senate majority leader Harry Reid, for example, prohibits federal money from funding insurance plans covering abortions.
“It’s not very good right now,” said Ayanna Herring, a Wayne State student.
The current bill calls for all eligible individuals to obtain health insurance by 2013, with penalties of about $750 imposed on those who do not.
The cheapest coverage, dubbed the “bronze” plan by PPACA, will have to cover at least 60 percent of health expenses.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that “average premiums per policy in the [individual] market in 2016 would be roughly $5,800 for single policies and $15,200 for family policies” under the bill, compared with about “$5,500 for single policies and $13,100 for family policies under current law.”
According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the average hospital inpatient service charge is $8,600.
Certain religious groups and Native American tribes will be exempt from the mandatory coverage as well as individuals with incomes below the poverty level.
PPACA would help families with children living at home keep their health insurance as they grow up. It extends insurance coverage to all single dependents until their 27th birthday.
The bill would also require all states to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges that would facilitate purchases of health insurance to individuals and small businesses.
Campus Health Center Nurse Mary White said of her concern about the legislation, “When you put a government agency in charge of programs for the public, it usually has so many layers ... that it’s hard to be efficient.”
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