“This is, of course, a historic moment for our country. But for tens of millions of ordinary Americans, the passage of health care reform means more than just a page in a history book. It means real security for seniors who rely on Medicare and still need help paying for prescriptions.

--Senator Chris Dodd, on the passage of health care reform--
March 23, 2010

On March 25, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. This landmark piece of legislation will help ensure that all Americans have access to stable, affordable, and secure health care—and many of the bill’s most important provisions were effective immediately or shortly after passage.

A Guide to Immediate Benefits
for Connecticut Residents

• Small business tax credits. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act makes it easier for small businesses—that pay, on average, 18 percent more than larger businesses for employee health insurance—to provide coverage for their employees. Up to 53,900 small businesses in Connecticut could be helped by a new tax credit that will cover up to 35 percent of a company’s premiums, a figure that will increase to 50 percent by 2014. Read more about the small business tax credit here.

• Closing the Medicare “donut hole.” In 2009, more than 46,000 Connecticut seniors fell into the Medicare Part D “donut hole,” or gap in their prescription drug coverage. In order to help defray the cost of these costly medicines, seniors falling into the “donut hole” began receiving a tax-free $250 check in May 2010. Checks will be mailed automatically each month to seniors as they encounter the gap in their prescription drug coverage. Connecticut beneficiaries will also receive a 50 percent discount on the brand-name drugs and biologics they need while in the “donut hole,” and the “donut hole” will be fully closed by 2020. Read more about closing the Medicare donut hole here.

• Health coverage for early retirees. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, an estimated 47,200 people from Connecticut—who have health coverage through their former employers—retired before they were eligible for Medicare. Unfortunately, the high cost of standalone, individual health care coverage can leave many early retirees without an affordable health care insurance option. The Early Retiree Reinsurance Program will provide much-needed financial relief for employers so retirees can get quality, affordable insurance starting this year. Read more about health coverage for early retirees here.

• Extending tax-free insurance coverage to young adults. Under the new health insurance reform law, health insurance issuers that offer coverage to children on their parents’ policy must allow children to remain on their parents’ policy until they turn 26, a provision that will benefit over 9,000 young adults in Connecticut. The provision will go into effect in September 2010, but some employers and many major insurers have agreed to cover adult children immediately. Read more about tax-free young adult insurance coverage here.

• $50 million for Connecticut to insure uninsured with pre-existing conditions. As part of a $5 billion national, short-term program included in the health care reform law, Connecticut is eligible to receive $50 million in federal funds to provide insurance to uninsured individuals with a pre-existing condition. This program, known as a temporary “high-risk pool,” will help provide affordable health insurance coverage to those Americans who have been otherwise unable to obtain insurance. Read more about the $50 million for Connecticut and the high-risk pool program here.

• Patients’ Bill of Rights. The new health care reform legislation includes new regulations to protect consumers and allow Americans to take complete control of their own health care coverage. These regulations include a ban on rescissions – the ability for an insurance company to change or eliminate coverage once a policy has been issued – and a prohibition on denying health care insurance coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Read more about the patients’ bill of rights here.

• Long-term health care grants. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes $60 million in grants to educate individuals about their health and long-term care options. States can apply for a share of these funds to assist individuals who are under-served and hard to reach with information about their Medicare and Medicaid benefits, help older adults and individuals with disabilities secure adequate supports to stay in their homes, assist people transitioning from hospital or nursing home stays back into the community, and strengthen linkages between the medical and social service systems. Read more about the long-term health care grants here.

• Tax credits for medical research. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a new tax credit to promote medical research into areas of unmet medical need and chronic or acute diseases or conditions, such as cancer. Known as the “therapeutic discovery tax credit,” this credit targets projects that show significant potential to produce new therapies and address unmet medical needs. The tax credit is effective immediately and covers up to 50 percent of the cost of qualifying biomedical research. Read more about the therapeutic discovery tax credit here.

Helpful Links

• HealthCare.Gov
• White House Health Care Site
• The Benefits of Health Reform In Connecticut