All Ways Well - Acupuncture & Wellness in La Center
  • Home
  • Book Now!
  • Blog
  • About
    • Covid19 Information for Patients
    • About Rebecca
    • Traditional Chinese Medicine - Ancient Methods for Modern Times
    • Testimonials
    • FAQ
    • Pricing
    • Medicare Chronic Low Back Pain Acupuncture Benefit at All Ways Well
  • Services
    • Acupuncture
    • Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture
    • Chinese Herbal Treatment
    • Virtual Fullscript Dispensary
    • DAO Labs - Order online!
    • Rasa Adaptogen Tea - order now!
    • Auto Accident Acupuncture
    • Gift Certificates
  • Resources For Patients
    • Food Allergies & Elimination Diets
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Amazon Store
  • Contact

Health Care Act - Oregon Consumer Guide

8/16/2013

Comments

 
Picture
Health insurance changes are coming down the pipeline, and the new plans under the Health Care Act (aka "Obamacare") will be unveiled October 2013 and will go into effect January 2014.  I find this is causing concern for some, and that the biggest concerns are about cost and a general sense that people don't know what is going to change.  

The Oregon Insurance Division has put out a great brochure reviewing the basics of what is included in all new plans and how rate review (regulation) works in Oregon specifically.  Click the button below to download or be linked to the brochure in PDF format.

Its actually very exciting, and most consumers are going to benefit from the new plans.  If you are insured through a large employer it is highly unlikely anything is going to change aside from a few new plan inclusions.  Small business employees and privately insured individuals will see the biggest changes in the realm of covered services and rates, but there is much more rate regulation and review in place so the rate changes should be minimal and generally beneficial to the consumer - especially to older Americans.

If you don't want to read the brochure, here are some of the more notable points listed:
  • Everyone is eligible for health insurance, regardless of current or past health status, meaning NO PRE-EXISTING CONDITION DENIALS FOR COVERAGE though there may still be exclusionary periods where a pre-existing condition isn't covered for a certain period of time when you sign up for a new plan.  That is yet to be seen.
  • Health plans for individuals and small employers must contain basic (essential) benefits and will be easier to compare. 
  • Cover Oregon, the state’s health insurance exchange, will offer one-stop health insurance shopping and link eligible Oregonians to financial assistance programs for premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
  • All health plans in the individual and small group markets will offer comprehensive coverage known as essential health benefits. The exact benefits differ by state and reflect services offered in a typical employer plan. However, all plans must offer essential health benefits in these 10 categories: 
  1. Emergency benefits 
  2. Hospitalizations
  3. Laboratory services 
  4. Maternity care 
  5. Mental health and substance abuse treatment 
  6. Outpatient, or ambulatory, care 
  7. Pediatric care 
  8. Prescription drugs 
  9. Preventive care 
  10. Rehabilitative and habilitative (helping maintain daily functioning) service

The Rehabilitative and Preventative care are the bigger areas of change, though "preventative" means wellness exams by your PCP, not alternative medicine (3,000 years of history and clinical evidence for preventative medicine here on the Chinese Medicine side of things....helloooo) fyi.  

Most plans in Oregon will have a Complementary and Alternative Medicine (acupuncture, naturopathic, chiropractic, maybe massage) "rider," or supplemental plan,  that you can include for an additional premium, but CAM services are not part of the Oregon essential benefits list.  They ARE part of the Washington State essential benefits list, so ALL PLANS ORIGINATING IN WASHING STATE WILL INCLUDE COVERAGE FOR ACUPUNCTURE starting January 1st 2014!

I am ridiculously excited about this, if you can't tell, but it is quite amazing that Washington has included CAM services in their essential benefits list and hopefully, as our focus in the US shifts from treating disease to treating "dis-ease" and heading problems off at the curve through preventative medicine and a wellness focus, this will become the norm that all states incorporate.  Ah, an acupuncturist can dream...

If you want to review the full Oregon Insurance Division brochure, please click the button below.  There is also a button for the Cover Oregon health exchange site where you can learn more about how the health exchange works, enter your household information to calculate if you are likely to be eligible for a subsidy (i.e. tax refund to help pay the cost of your insurance premium starting in 2014) and sign up for alerts to stay in the know about health care exchange happenings.

So click on, read up, and stay tuned here as well - I will be trying to disseminate information about health care act related changes, sign up dates and more through my blog as best I can.  I also send out information via my eZine, so if you haven't signed up yet - its time!!

Until my next inspiration and installment,
~Rebecca
Download Brochure
Cover Oregon Website
Comments
    Book Now!

    RSS Feed

    Authors

    Rebecca M H Kitzerow is a Licensed Acupuncturist practicing in La Center, Washington. With over a decade of experience she has won 10 Nattie consumer choice awards from Natural Awakenings Magazine since 2014.

    Rebecca practices a variety of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques including Tan Acupuncture, Kiiko style Japanese Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Herbal Remedies, Cosmetic Acupuncture, Foot Reflexology, Cupping and Gua Sha. Rebecca strives to help people Be Well and Stay Well in every way.

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    Acupuncture
    Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
    All Ways Wellness
    All-ways-wellness
    All Ways Well News And Updates
    Antiaging
    Anti Aging
    Archive
    Arthritis
    Car Accident
    Chinese-herbs
    Chinese-herbs
    Diet And Nutrition
    Diet-and-nutrition
    Digestive
    Electro Acupuncture
    Facial-rejuvenation
    Fertility
    Find Your Well
    Find-your-well
    Foot-reflexology
    Goodell Pt
    Healthcare
    Healthy Living
    Healthy-living
    Heart Health
    Herbs
    Infertility
    Intermittent Fasting
    Japanese-acupuncture
    Menstrual Irregularity
    Motor Vehicle Accident Treatment
    Mthfr
    Mva
    Newsupdates06fb9f432f
    Pain
    Physical Therapy
    Postpartum Recovery
    Preventative Medicine
    Preventative-medicine
    Psoriasis
    Psoriatic Arthritis
    Seasonal
    Stress
    Wellness

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Hey Paul Studios, BeGreen_Studio, Pawel Pacholec, 1950sUnlimited, toulupaliaqaz, Joelk75, OnTask, Robert Gourley, cnu_sports, Mitya Ku, FootMassagez, 401(K) 2013, Mariana Heinz, @EdwardTerry, fishhawk, liverpoolhls, torbakhopper, Boemski, dolomitibl, Driscolltheque, Dave n Laura, Vaping360, MVWorks, Life Mental Health, MVWorks, mikefats, Scot Nelson, jfl1066, wZa HK, ruurmo, Guadalupe Cervilla, Army Medicine, GViciano, torbakhopper, adrigu, Saulo Cruz, Ben Cumming, marniejoyce, kcxd, JasonCorey, kanenas.net, Live to Create Photography, gm.esthermax, Unique Hotels Group, Zenspa1, mysiana, Tobias Lindman, Leader Nancy Pelosi, Kristoffer Trolle, swanksalot, Bill Selak, Parker Knight, stimpsonjake, Gedankensprudler, SuperFantastic, tonynetone, marniejoyce, JeepersMedia, Illusive Photography, 'Ajnagraphy', Iban Torras, scotted400, gtall1, dvanzuijlekom, BPPrice, Skley, torbakhopper, Renato Ganoza, anka.albrecht, QUOI Media, Public Domain Photos, Instant Vantage, Victor Tongdee, Free Grunge Textures - www.freestock.ca, sportEX journals, Nadja Tatar, angela n., marniejoyce, MVWorks, Karolina Kabat, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, UofT, ginnerobot, tracilawson, haven't the slightest, My Photo Journeys, Pierre Willemin, Florena_Presse, SuperFantastic, colindunn, zzkt, TraumaAndDissociation, ER24 EMS (Pty) Ltd., marniejoyce, Tomás Fano, freestock.ca ♡ dare to share beauty, Archives New Zealand
  • Home
  • Book Now!
  • Blog
  • About
    • Covid19 Information for Patients
    • About Rebecca
    • Traditional Chinese Medicine - Ancient Methods for Modern Times
    • Testimonials
    • FAQ
    • Pricing
    • Medicare Chronic Low Back Pain Acupuncture Benefit at All Ways Well
  • Services
    • Acupuncture
    • Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture
    • Chinese Herbal Treatment
    • Virtual Fullscript Dispensary
    • DAO Labs - Order online!
    • Rasa Adaptogen Tea - order now!
    • Auto Accident Acupuncture
    • Gift Certificates
  • Resources For Patients
    • Food Allergies & Elimination Diets
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Amazon Store
  • Contact