On Friday a partial draft of the healthcare legislation currently wending its way through Congress was released. While the bill is likely to undergo significant revision, there are several sweeping changes proposed that are likely to be included in the final legislation.
One of the more interesting of the proposed changes involves the creation of a health insurance exchange. Known as the American Health Benefit Gateway, this portion of the proposed legislation would mandate that each state create and manage a gateway to help individuals and businesses purchase health insurance. According to the draft, the proposed Gateway will not allow the denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions. It would also guarantee the availability of health coverage in group and individual markets while eliminating lifetime or annual limits on the amount of care a provider will cover.
This part of the bill would certainly help those uninsured with pre-existing conditions to gain access to coverage. And the creation of gateways in every state will almost certainly boost employment among those in the field of medical record keeping. In fact, whatever shape the legislation ultimately takes, the goal of providing healthcare coverage for all Americans can only have a positive effect on employment in health related fields. It will be interesting to see how this historic reform bill ultimately pans out.
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