The point of the reform proposed by the American president is to enable most Americans to use affordable medical care. After all, the American healthcare system has long caused dissatisfaction among the country's residents. There are plenty of good hospitals in the country, but treatment in them is unaffordable for many Americans. This especially applies to those who do not have health insurance.
To remedy the situation, in the summer of 2010, Congress passed a law on mandatory health insurance. And now, according to the calculations of the Department of Health and Human Services, the number of Americans using affordable health insurance has increased by almost 30 million people since the start of the reform.
Now their number will increase even more. According to the amendments adopted by Congress, insurance companies are deprived of some rights: for example, cancelling insurance service for those who continue to be ill after the expiration of the purchased insurance program.
In addition, these amendments gave married couples with an annual income of less than $64,000 the right to also qualify for free health insurance. The same category of 'lucky ones' includes children from low-income families and pregnant women. People suffering from such terrible diseases as Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes and the like, and thousands of elderly people living out their lives in nursing homes can count on free health insurance.
Changes in health insurance, oddly enough, lead to another process: an increase in the number of Americans who retire early. Currently in America, one can retire at 65 or 62. In the first case, a person receives larger insurance benefits, in the second – somewhat smaller. With the end of the financial crisis, the number of people wishing to retire early had already increased. After all, prices have dropped, the cost of living has decreased, and giving up a well-deserved rest for the sake of additional income seems unnecessary to many.
The question arose: what to do with such early retirees? Should we continue to support them on the free health insurance program called Medicaid, or transfer them to programs of another system, Medicare, for which one must pay moderate amounts, but still out of one's own pocket, not from the state?
Amendments to the health insurance law removed from the traditional concept of 'annual income', on which depends what kind of health insurance a person will use, the amounts of federal pensions received by citizens upon reaching the age of 65.
Thus, the real annual income of such people decreased. And for low-income Americans, free insurance under the Medicaid program is provided. In total, free health insurance under this program will now cover almost 50 million citizens of the country.
Boris VINOKUR.
"Novye Izvestia"