Health Insurance Reform

What is the Cost of Inaction?
Evidence of the crisis in our health care system is clear:

  • Since 2000, personal premiums have more than doubled, now consuming 17% of the median family's income.
  • 47 million uninsured often forgo preventive care and rely on hospital emergency rooms for primary care, increasing costs for all taxpayers including those with insurance.
  • Health care costs account for more than 16 percent of GDP, nearly twice the average of other industrialized nations.

Click here to learn more about the costs of inaction.

Click here to read personal stories of individuals who have suffered from the current health insurance system.


Without reform, these trends would become much worse:

  • The cost of a family health insurance plan would increase to an estimated average of $24,000 per year in 2019, approximately 45% of household income.
  • The number of uninsured would reach 66 million - including 11 million who will lose employer-sponsored health care - raising costs for all.
  • Health care costs would account for 25% of GDP by 2024.
  • Our nation would spend more than $33 trillion on health care in the next ten years.

The status quo is unacceptable and unsustainable. That is why Congresswoman Lowey voted to make quality care for individuals and their families affordable and accessible, preserve patients' choice of doctors and plans, and rein in long-term health care costs that threaten businesses' and families' financial security and the federal deficit.


What Will Health Insurance Reform Accomplish?
Since early 2009, Congress and the Administration have been working to reform our nation's health care system to make high-quality care more accessible and affordable and to control the increasing cost of medical care for families. Health insurance reform will have immediate benefits, including:

  • Tax credits to small businesses to make employee coverage more affordable;
  • Banning egregious practices of insurance companies, including dropping people from coverage when they get sick, discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions, and lifetime and annual limits on coverage; and
  • Protecting and improving Medicare by reducing and gradually closing the prescription drug “donut hole” and eliminating out-of-pocket expenses for preventive services.

Click here to read more about how Medicare will be strengthened.

What Does Health Insurance Reform Mean for Westchester and Rockland Counties
In New York’s 18th Congressional District, which contains portions of Westchester and Rockland Counties, the legislation will:

  • Improve coverage for 445,000 insured residents, protecting them from discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and other abuses of the insurance industry;
  • Help 22,100 small businesses afford coverage for their employees; and
  • Improve Medicare for 107,000 beneficiaries, including closing the prescription drug “donut hole.”

Click here for more information about how health insurance reform will benefit the 18th Congressional District.

Correcting Misunderstandings About Health Insurance Reform
The debate over health insurance reform has been long and passionate. Unfortunately, many misunderstandings have arisen about the substance of the legislation.

Health insurance reform is NOT a government takeover of health care.

  • Private insurance participation will in fact increase as more Americans get insured after reform. Consumers and small businesses who get their insurance through a public exchange will choose among private health insurance plans. Those who are happy with their coverage are free to keep their plan.

Health insurance reform will NOT cut Medicare benefits.

  • Medicare benefits will be strengthened by closing the prescription drug “donut hole” which forces many seniors to pay high out-of-pocket costs for medications and by eliminating out-of-pocket expenses for preventive services. Reform will also aggressively eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse to extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund for future generations.

Health insurance reform will NOT force taxpayers to pay for abortion.

  • Health insurance reform does not change federal law prohibiting taxpayer dollars from funding abortion coverage.

Health insurance reform will NOT add to the deficit.

  • According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), health insurance reform will reduce the federal deficit by more than $138 billion in the first ten years and more than $1.2 trillion in the second ten years after passage.

Health insurance reform will NOT increase taxes for most New Yorkers.

  • The vast majority of families in Westchester and Rockland Counties will not be affected by increased taxes. Congresswoman Lowey successfully fought to protect New York taxpayers – the bill would affect fewer than 10 percent of tax filers. Lowey is also fighting to index federal taxes to cost of living, which would help residents in our expensive region.