GERRY CONNOLLY FOR CONGRESS

Fairfax Times

By Congressman Gerry Connolly (VA-11)

If anyone ever had doubts about the need for health insurance reform, they only had to read the recent headlines about how Wellpoint, the nation's largest health insurer, routinely canceled coverage for women diagnosed with breast cancer who face the expensive and lengthy ordeal of treatment for this disease that strikes one in eight women in America.

Under withering criticism, the company has agreed to end this heinous practice prior to the deadline set by the new law, which requires all insurance companies to stop dropping coverage for policyholders when they become ill. Other companies have also fallen into line.

The law now puts families -- not insurance companies -- in charge of their health care. It also will prohibit lifetime caps on coverage and prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. More than 30,700 of us here in Northern Virginia with pre-existing conditions now will be able to buy insurance under the new law.

Several dozen major insurance companies also have announced that they will begin allowing young adults to remain on their parents' health insurance policies until age 26, months before the September 1 deadline requiring them to do so. More than 162,000 families in Northern Virginia will benefit immediately from this provision in the law.

These are only the first of many positive changes to our health care system that will occur immediately and over the next several years as the new law is fully implemented. Citizens will have to judge for themselves whether the new law will help their family, but one thing is clear: It is time to end the heated political rhetoric of the past 14 months and focus our attention to how the law will impact our lives.

For seniors, Medicare Prescription Drug beneficiaries in the "donut hole" will receive a $250 rebate this year to help defray drug costs and a 50 percent discount on all brand-name drugs starting in 2011. The "donut hole" will be completely eliminated over 10 years, saving seniors thousands of dollars. In addition, 73,000 seniors in our community and 211,000 across Northern Virginia on Medicare will no longer pay co-payments for preventive care and routine doctor visits, saving them hundreds of dollars each year in out-of-pocket costs while encouraging preventive care and wellness.

The new law also protects and maintains the integrity of Tricare and other related programs for members of the military, veterans and their families. Those politicians who say otherwise to scare the families of our men and women on the battlefield for political gain should be ashamed of themselves.

Currently, less than 40 percent of all small businesses in the U.S. offer health insurance to their employees. This new law will provide tax credits to more than 53,000 small businesses in Northern Virginia and 170,600 businesses across the Commonwealth to help these companies afford insurance for their workers.

The law also provides tax credits to more than 291,000 families in Northern Virginia and 1.6 million across the state, who are uninsured or underinsured, to help them afford insurance.

As I met with constituents across District 11 during the last year, they told me they wanted health insurance reform, but only if it met certain tests:

-Will it bring down premium costs for families and small businesses?

-Will it reduce the deficit?

-Will it protect their choice of plan and doctor?

-Will it improve access to care?

-Will it protect and improve Medicare the final insurance reform legislation?

This new law does all of those things and more. Find out for yourself by reading the full text of the new law on my website at

www.connolly.house.gov.