Page 2 - Maternity Coverage News Today

For one thing. some of the subsidies may be higher than the house version for some things. the president has called for more heart in the senate version. is that what hes getting? >> well, first, i think people are going to take a close look at the details that are not that complicated. i dont know what theyve spent the last couple of weeks doing in these back rooms, maybe playing monopoly, im not sure. but if we believe whats in the discussion draft, the differences are minor. so, yes, medicaid...

And they would have a much worse -- a much harsher impact on lower-income people. there still is going to be an ability more states to opt out of coveraging the essential benefits package. that means that maternity coverage and mental health coverage wont be covered. these are some of the issues that caused a lot of concerns by moderates the first time around. and i suspect theyre going to have those same concerns now. there arent that dramatic of a change to a lot of these pieces from what weve...

People or seniors. theyve expressed concerns about the cuts to medicaid, concerns about the fact that this bill would allow insurers not to cover certain so-called essential benefits that were required under obamacare like maternity coverage or emergency room care and the like. then of course, this other element that weve been hearing a lot about which is the matter of pre-existing conditions. this new bill would allow states to allow insurers to charge people with pre-existing conditions more f...

And possibilities of states opting out of minimum benefit guarantees like maternity coverage or mental health care. so its hard to -- yes, you can say all of that. but already we had information indicating it was not on track for that at all. >> right. and that goes to where your health expertise meets the political side, which we can handle back in studio which is why the sales pitch doesnt seem to be on the level. and thats separate from ideology, whether you like obamacare or not, there seems...

Guarantees like maternity coverage or mental health care. so its hard to -- yes, you can say all of that. but already we had information indicating it was not on track for that at all. >> right. and that goes to where your health expertise meets the political side, which we can handle back in studio which is why the sales pitch doesnt seem to be on the level. and thats separate from ideology, whether you like obamacare or not, there seems to be a lot of lies about what the replacement would or w...

Insurance in the next decade. now the cbo will put more numbers on in the next couple of weeks, i suspect. so that we understand how much worse it got. because all that got added were loosened protections for people and possibilities of states opting out of minimum benefit guarantees like maternity coverage or mental health care. so its hard to -- yes, you can say all of that. but already we had information indicating it was not on track for that at all. >> right. and that goes to where your hea...

We want to make sure that -- and i think everybody agrees that when a baby enters this world, we all can agree whether were run or democrat that that baby ought to have the best chance to have a healthy life. i dont know why this is a political issue, and i dont understand, and we dont understand at the march of dimes why we have to have a debate about it. but apparently we do. one of the things we want to make sure that the senate understands is that we should not put on the table maternity cov...

>> what we estimate is that there could be millions of people that could lose. and whats really important is that this is really a debate that we really need to have. we want to make sure that -- and i think everybody agrees that when a baby enters this world, we all can agree whether were run or democrat that that baby ought to have the best chance to have a healthy life. i dont know why this is a political issue, and i dont understand, and we dont understand at the march of dimes why we have t...

Take the waivers because under the way it works, employers only have to cover the benefits in a plan that any state in the country has as its standard. so if alabama or mississippi get a waiver and they say you no longer have to do maternity coverage, mental health coverage, even prescription drugs, then any employer in any other state that wants to can impose lifetime limits on all of those kinds of coverages. you know, its really a pretty extraordinary bill. it takes over $1 trillion over ten ...

Those people couldnt afford coverage. 70 million americans with employer coverage before the aca faced limits, lifetime limits on the coverage, which if you had cancer or you were otherwise sick could really affect you. the affordable care act removed that. the state waivers bring it back. and any state that wants to do, and they even have adverse effects on states that dont take the waivers because under the way it works, employers only have to cover the benefits in a plan that any state in the...