Inform Article

The Impact of Health Reform Repeal on Palm Beach County

01.20.2011
Posted by Pam Gionfriddo of Mental Health Association of Palm Beach County
The Impact of Health Reform Repeal on Palm Beach County picture

Why should Palm Beach County residents care if  members of its Congressional delegation voted to repeal all the provisions of health reform this week?

If every provision of health reform were to be repealed, here are some estimates of Palm Beach County residents who would lose benefits:

  • 4,000-5,000 young adults covered on parents' health insurance plans;
  • Up to 10,000 Medicare recipients in the donut hole;
  • Early retirees of the cities of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Palm Beach County, Boca Raton Firefighters, Local 1560 IAFF, Palm Beach State College, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Palm Beach County School District, Palm Beach County Firefighters, the towns of Jupiter, Lantana, and Palm Beach - all of which have already applied to keep their retirees on their health insurance plans;
  • Medicare recipients, who would have to pay out-of-pocket for an annual check-up, mammograms, and colonoscopies;
  • Residents with private health insurance coverage who have chronic conditions such as mental illness who would lose hard-won protections, like the ban on insurers cancelling coverage because they become sick or the ban on insurers using their pre-existing condition as an excuse not to insure them in the first place.

According to a new AP-GfK poll, the public is evenly divided about the health reform law, but when we're asked what we want to do about it, only 26% want to  repeal it completely and only 10% more want it to do less. Four times as many - 43% -- want it to do more.

Your elected leaders want to hear from you. Even if you want them to change the law, let them know which benefits are important to you. To read the column from which these numbers were drawn and to see other recent columns about mental illness, visit Our Health Policy Matters: pgionfriddo.blogspot.com.