Major Healthcare Changes in Arizona

Major Changes In Arizona Healthcare

• Arizona Health insurance exchanges would make healthcare insurance coverage affordable for the 1.3 million uninsured Arizonans and the 281,000 with nongroup healthcare insurance coverage.
  
  
• Healthcare Insurance Premium Tax Credits would be available to 746,000 Arizonans.
  
  
• Free Preventative Healthcare Services would be provided to 853,000 senior citizens.
  
  
• The Medicare Part D "doughnut hole" would be remedied, so that 151,000 senior citizens would be paying only half the cost of the brand name medications.
  
  
• The Small Business Tax Credit would allow 63,700 small businesses in Arizona to benefit from lower group health insurance premiums.
  

Early Healthcare Benefits Enjoyed By The 6.5 Million Arizonans in 2010 and 2011

• Consumers will no longer have lifetime limits on their health insurance coverage. Annual limit use will be altered and health insurance companies will not be allowed to drop coverage arbitrarily.
  
  
• There will be options available to those ineligible for health insurance. Presently there are 8% of Arizonans with Diabetes and 25% with high blood pressure who struggle to get health insurance. Insurers often deny coverage for these two groups. A high-risk pool established by the reform bill will give such people health insurance options.
  
  
• Free preventative services will be available. Of the preventative tests that have been neglected, 36% of Arizonans have not undergone a colorectal screening for cancer and 19% of women aged 50 and above have neglected to get a mammogram for the past two years. Prevention and public health will be encouraged through funds invested for these purposes.
  
  
• Health coverage for those who retire early will be supported. Even though 111,000 early retirees have special coverage through their employers, such coverage is becoming rarer. The new system would offer reinsurance to help stabilize the coverage and help lower premiums for existing employees and the early retirees. It could make as much as $1200 difference in premiums for families.