President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was officially put into effect yesterday.
Proponents of the health care reform law emphasize the protections for privately insured consumers outlined in the "Patient's Bill of Rights." Congressman Tom Perriello, D-Charlottesville, highlighted those key patient rights and protections in a Wednesday statement to the press.
For example, Virginians will have protective provisions against the denial of coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, the arbitrary cancellation of health coverage and lifetime limits on health coverage.
Other benefits include the rights patients will have "to key preventive services without deductible or co-payments" and to choose their own doctors within their insurer networks.
Perriello publicly discussed the "Patient's Bill of Rights" Wednesday at events in Charlottesville and Ferrum, Va.
"We met parents with kids who have chronic illnesses," said Michael Kelly, deputy press secretary for the Periello campaign, adding that those parents now have the freedom to make critical decisions about their healthcare under the new law.
Perriello and other supporters of the health care reform law emphasize that the "reforms ... put patients and doctors, not the health insurance companies, back in charge of health care decisions," according to Perriello's press release.
Nevertheless, Robert Hurt, Perriello's challenger in the upcoming congressional midterm election, believes that the health care reform bill is more detrimental than beneficial for Virginians.
"Robert believes that the government takeover of health care should be repealed and replaced," Hurt campaign spokesperson Amanda Hennenberg said. "It's no surprise that Congressman Perriello continues to champion ... government takeover of health care that raises rates and taxes, kills jobs and adds burdensome costs onto the backs of small businesses and cuts Medicare by $500 billion."
Other sources have shown that the health care reform policy could have some negative effects. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Tuesday that 1.2 million seniors will be dropped from the Medicare Advantage or Medicare prescription drug plan that is currently in place. In addition, small-town doctors who rely on Medicare patients may suffer from these reported effects.
Despite how polarized views on the bill can be, Isaac Wood, media representative at the Center for Politics and a former Cavalier Daily opinion columnist, said he believes the health care policy's recent implementation will not affect the upcoming congressional election.
"I feel like many people have already made up their mind about the health care reform bill one way or another," Wood said. "Unless they seem personally affected or changed, I don't think you will see a lot of change in the polls based on this alone."
A new Benenson Strategy Group Poll released Tuesday shows that Democrat Tom Perriello and Republican Robert Hurt are statistically tied. The poll revealed that 44 percent and 46 percent of likely general election voters would vote for Perriello and Hurt, respectively.
Wood called this poll more accurate than some previous polls that showed larger margins.
"Anyone living in this district knows that [the election] is not a blowout - the margin is really small," he said.
The Congressional midterm election will take place Nov. 2.
-Virginia Terwilliger contributed to this article
Read More
University sees increase in fraudulent emails and phishing attempts
By Bertie Azqueta | 11 hours agoSome of these phishing attempts come from @virginia.edu email addresses, making it more challenging for University Outlook users to differentiate fraudulent emails.
Faculty Senate discusses proposal to separate faculty position renewal from promotion
By Lexie Stadler | YesterdayAGF are non-tenure-track professors who hold roles primarily focused on teaching, research, academic librarianship and clinical service.
Board of Visitors approves increased tuition and other rates for 2025-26 school year
By Brandon Kile | December 11, 2024Increases for tuition at the graduate schools ranged from a 0.6 percent increase on the lower end at the Graduate School of Engineering to a 4.1 percent increase on the higher end at the Graduate School of Data Science.
