• The life of the Medicare Trust fund will be extended to at least 2029, a 12-year extension as a result of reducing waste, fraud and abuse, and slowing cost growth in Medicare. This will provide you with future cost savings on your premiums and coinsurance.
• Medicare will take strong action to reduce payment errors, waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare. The President has made a commitment to reduce Medicare fraud 50 percent by 2012. The Affordable Care Act makes an historic, ten-year, $350 million investment to prevent, detect and fight fraud in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program—including criminal efforts to exploit the new law. Visit Stop Medicare Fraud for more information.
• In 2011, if you hit the prescription drug donut hole, you will get a 50% discount on brand-name drugs. Every year after, you will pay less for your prescription drugs in the donut hole until there’s complete coverage of the donut hole in 2020. Between now and then, you will get continuous Medicare coverage for your prescription drugs.
• The coordination of care between doctors and the overall quality of care will improve so that you will be less likely to experience preventable and harmful re-admissions to the hospital for the same condition.
• Hospitals will have new, strong incentives to improve your quality of care.
• Starting in 2014, the Affordable Care Act offers additional protections for Medicare Advantage Plan members by taking strong steps that limit the amount these plans spend on administrative costs, insurance company profits, and things other than health care.

Rising costs have made it difficult for employers to provide quality, affordable health insurance for workers and retirees while also remaining competitive in the global marketplace.  Many Americans who retire without employer-sponsored insurance and before they are eligible for Medicare see their life savings disappear because of exorbitant rates in the individual market.  

The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program will provide much-needed financial relief for employers so retirees can get quality, affordable insurance starting in 2010.

Read about the early retiree policy and download an application

The Affordable Care Act helps small businesses and small tax-exempt organizations afford the cost of covering their employees.

If you have fewer than 25 employees and provide health insurance you may qualify for a small business tax credit of up to 35% (up to 25% for non-profits) to offset the cost of your insurance. This will make the cost of providing insurance much lower.

Learn more about the Health Care Tax Credit for Small Employers.

On July 1, eligible residents of Florida will be able to apply for coverage through the state’s Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

To qualify for coverage:

• You must be a citizen or national of the United States or lawfully present in the United States.
• You must have been uninsured for at least the last six months before you apply.
• You must have had a problem getting insurance due to a pre-existing condition.

PCIP will cover a broad range of health benefits, including primary and specialty care, hospital care, and prescription drugs.  All covered benefits are available for you, even if it’s to treat a preexisting condition.

Learn more about the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan and apply.

Starting as early as September 2010, young adults under age 26 can generally be insured under a parent’s insurance if the policy allows for dependent coverage. The only exception is if the parent has an existing job-based plan, and the young adult children can get their own job-based coverage.

In some plans, young adult children can be added earlier than September 2010.

Read a fact sheet on the young adult coverage policy