According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, this landmark legislation will cost $940 billion during the next decade, while reducing the deficit by $143 billion in the first ten years (2010- 2019) and by $1.2 trillion in the second ten years. While there is no public option, like many democrats including the President wanted, there are significant provisions to expand health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans, bringing healthcare coverage to 94 percent of Americans.

Immediate Impact of Healthcare Bill in 2010
• Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping people from coverage when they get sick, lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated, and insurers will be prohibited from excluding children due to a pre-existing condition.
• A coverage reinsurance program will begin to aid companies in providing health coverage for early retirees between 55 and 64. The program will expire in 2014.
• Patients who fall into the Medicare “doughnut hole” will receive a $250 rebate. While the bill closes the gap, it is not immediate.
• Small business will be able to receive a tax credit to help provide coverage to workers.

Other Impacts of Healthcare Bill (2012 and beyond)
• Medicare provides 10 percent bonus payments to primary care physicians and general surgeons.
• Payments to insurers offering Medicare Advantage services are frozen at 2010 levels.
• Employers are required to disclose the value of health benefits on employees’ W-2 tax forms.
• An annual fee is imposed on pharmaceutical companies according to market share. The fee does not apply to companies with sales of $5 million or less.
• An incentive program is established in Medicare for acute care hospitals to improve quality outcomes.
• CMS will begin tracking hospital readmission rates and puts in place financial incentives to reduce preventable readmissions.
• A national pilot program will be established for Medicare on payment bundling to encourage doctors, hospitals, and other care providers to better coordinate patient care.
• The Medicare payroll tax is raised to 2.35 percent from 1.45 percent for individuals earning more than $200,000 and married couples with incomes of more than $250,000.
• A 2.9 percent excise tax is imposed on the sale of medical devices. Anything generally purchased at the retail level by the public is excluded from the tax.
• State health insurance exchanges for small businesses and individuals will open.
• A mandate to obtain health insurance coverage will go into effect. Healthcare tax credits will become available to help people with incomes of up to 400 percent of the poverty level purchase coverage on the exchange.
• Health plans no longer can exclude people from coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
• Employers with 50 or more workers who do not offer coverage will face a fine of $2,000 for each employee if any worker receives subsidized insurance on the exchange. The first 30 employees aren’t counted for the fine.
• Health insurance companies begin paying a fee based on their market share.
• Medicare creates a physician payment program aimed at rewarding quality of care rather than volume of services.
• An excise tax on high-cost, employer-provided plans is imposed. The first $27,500 of a family plan and $10,200 for individual coverage is exempt from the tax.
Impacts on Health IT
• Supports programs to foster the reporting of quality measures through the use of health IT.
• Directs the establishment of standards to facilitate the enrollment of individuals in health plans, as well as standards to enable the determination of an individual’s eligibility and financial responsibility for specific services prior to or at the point of care.
• Establishes new programs that apply, among many things, health IT to test new, more effective healthcare delivery models.
• Aims to increase the use of health IT in long-term care settings through financial assistance.
• Directs the use of health IT in health risk assessments for Medicare beneficiaries.
• Establishes incentive payments for health plans and providers that apply health IT in improving healthcare outcomes.
• Supports the education and training of health IT among medical students
Source:
Dell Special Report summarizing the 2,000+ pages of legislation

And this from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Other Sites:
The St. Louis Beacon

St. Louis American Black male unemployment reportedly comparable to ‘Great Depression

Companies will create jobs in India and China, “places where people want the products and where the governments welcome you to actually do something,” Farr said.

The unemployment rate in the U.S. jumped to 10.2 percent in October, the highest level since 1983. Emerson, which Farr said employs about 125,000 people worldwide, has eliminated more than 20,000 jobs since the end of 2008 to lower expenses.

“What do you think I am going to do?” Farr asked. “I’m not going to hire anybody in the United States. I’m moving. They are doing everything possible to destroy jobs.”

“My job is to grow that top line, grow my earnings, grow my cash flow and grow my returns to the shareholders. My job is not to shrink and roll over for the U.S. government.”

Shame on government for laws like minimum wage and health care reform for its citizens. Mr. Farr, how about giving a little more to your employees and a little less to you and the other stock holders… American has been good to you Mr. Farr, quit complaining about being asked to give something back. Also, it drives me nuts to hear you blame OBAMA for this countries manufacturing woes. We all know this is not about destroying American jobs, but more like keeping a dollar cap on CEOs like you.
What is your opinion about this Saint Louis CEO? Is it government driving business abroad or is it greedy CEOs? By the way, this guy is also leading the charge against health care reform. No surprise there.. Whats your take…..