Ryan: ‘Insurance nightmare in America is over’

April 7, 2010 at 12:07a.m.

By SEAN BARRON

YOUNGSTOWN

Hattie Wilkins eagerly awaits the day when her pre-existing condition of high blood pressure no longer will be used to deny her health-care coverage.

She’s also excited that several generations of her family will be insured as well.

“My family will all have coverage and not have to pay an extraordinary amount,” Wilkins said after Tuesday’s forum on health-care reform at Martin Luther Lutheran Church, 420 Clearmount Drive, on the city’s South Side.

Also discussed were several aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which passed 219-212 in the House of Representatives on March 21 and was signed into law March 23 by President Barack Obama.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Wilkins added. “It has a lot of flaws that need worked out, but I’m happy.”

Wilkins, a volunteer with the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, was one of several local people who shared stories about how the current health-care system has negatively impacted their lives. About 100 people attended the 90-minute gathering, sponsored by MVOC.

The collaborative, established in March 2008, seeks to unite churches, neighborhood groups, schools and others to work toward improving the quality of life in urban areas throughout Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

Addressing the short- and long-term provisions of the law was U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, who said insurance companies soon won’t be allowed to dump those with pre-existing conditions or deny them coverage.

“The insurance nightmare in America is over,” he said.

Senior citizens on Medicare Part D will receive $250 rebate checks this September, and co-pays for preventive services will be waived, and by 2014 or earlier, coverage will be provided for an estimated 32 million people; those up to age 26 can remain on their parents’ health-care insurance; tax credits up to 50 percent will be provided to businesses with 25 or fewer employees; and doctors who contribute to patients‘ quality of care, not just quantity will be rewarded, Ryan said. Also, the administration has promised the law will cut the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next two decades.