Today is the one-year anniversary of the big event Vice-President Joe Biden
described so memorably – the signing of the federal
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
In the past six months, the first round of consumer protections have already gone into effect:
- Insurance companies can no longer deny children with preexisting conditions, take away your coverage if you become very sick, or place a cap on your benefits.
- Preventive care services such as annual physicals and mammograms are now free of charge.
- Parents can keep their kids on their policy until they turn 26.
These are just the first steps, however. Full implementation of federal health care reform won’t be complete until 2014. In the meantime,
states are gearing up for the transition and
Washington legislators have been working to ensure current programs such as the Basic Health Program remain in place to bridge us to 2014. You can
read more about why Washington’s efforts to preserve those basic services today, even in the midst of enormous budget challenges, will pay off tomorrow.
