The reform law scheduled more acceptable provisions, such as expanding coverage to young adults, for early introduction this year, while the most controversial aspects, such as the mandate for purchasing insurance, are being postponed until 2014, after the 2012 presidential election.
Recently the Obama Administration implemented some of the early measures even before their start-up dates. For example, allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ coverage to age 26 occurs immediately rather than in September, as the law provided.
Other early measures in the health reform law are:
- setting up high-risk insurance pools to cover people with pre-existing conditions;
- providing tax breaks to small businesses; and
- helping seniors pay for prescription drugs.
However, polls continue to show tepid support for the new law. The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll found 44 percent of Americans think the law is a bad idea, while 38 percent think it’s a good idea.
Read Politico‘s report on healthcare reform.
