So to help you guys understand some of the finer points of the immense tome now on the table, here’s a list of concrete changes you can expect from this new bill.

WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR OF ENACTMENT

• Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.
• Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
  
• Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the “doughnut hole” coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.
• A temporary reinsurance program is created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64. This also expires in 2014.
• A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.
• A 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services that use ultraviolet lamps goes into effect on July 1.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2011

• Medicare provides 10 percent bonus payments to primary care physicians and general surgeons.
• Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get a free annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plan service. New health plans will be required to cover preventive services with little or no cost to patients.
• A new program under the Medicaid plan for the poor goes into effect in October that allows states to offer home and community based care for the disabled that might otherwise require institutional care.
• Payments to insurers offering Medicare Advantage services are frozen at 2010 levels. These payments are to be gradually reduced to bring them more in line with traditional Medicare.
• 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.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2012

• Physician payment reforms are implemented in Medicare to enhance primary care services and encourage doctors to form “accountable care organizations” to improve quality and efficiency of care.
• An incentive program is established in Medicare for acute care hospitals to improve quality outcomes.
• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the government programs, begin tracking hospital readmission rates and puts in place financial incentives to reduce preventable readmissions.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2013

• A national pilot program is established for Medicare on payment bundling to encourage doctors, hospitals and other care providers to better coordinate patient care.
• The threshold for claiming medical expenses on itemized tax returns is raised to 10 percent from 7.5 percent of income. The threshold remains at 7.5 percent for the elderly through 2016.
• 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 over $250,000. The tax is imposed on some investment income for that income group.
• A 2.9 percent excise tax in imposed on the sale of medical devices. Anything generally purchased at the retail level by the public is excluded from the tax.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2014

• State health insurance exchanges for small businesses and individuals open.
• Most people will be required to obtain health insurance coverage or pay a fine if they don’t. Healthcare tax credits become available to help people with incomes up to 400 percent of poverty 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 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.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2015

• Medicare creates a physician payment program aimed at rewarding quality of care rather than volume of services.

WHAT HAPPENS IN 2018

• 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. Higher levels are set for plans covering retirees and people in high risk professions.

Instead they made it a point to call out that the actual estimated figure was that the bill would save “only” $ 132 billion dollars from 2010 to 2019. The one trillion dollar estimate was actually for the next decade after that.

Oh, darn.

Fox News

Mr. Obama last week signed four bills, each just a day or two after Congress passed and sent it over to him.

Story on Washington Times

Even as it pulls back from harsh interrogations and other sharply debated aspects of George W. Bush ’s “war on terrorism,” the Obama administration is quietly signaling continued support for other major elements of its predecessor’s approach to fighting Al Qaeda.

In little-noticed confirmation testimony recently, Obama nominees endorsed continuing the C.I.A. ’s program of transferring prisoners to other countries without legal rights, and indefinitely detaining terrorism suspects without trials even if they were arrested far from a war zone.

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President Obama, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., signed the $787 billion stimulus bill at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on Tuesday.

In related news, The President finally OK’d the awaited boosting of troops to Afghanistan.

Story on BBC

In other news, while Obama signed the Stimulus bill his press secretary stated “while there are no particular plans at this point for a second stimulus package, I wouldn’t foreclose it.”

Bill Clinton took the opportunity for some limelight on CNN to say “It’s quite a good bill!” as well.

Maybe we’re progressing from Obamania to Stimulusmania?

Story on NYTimes

“major milestone on our road to recovery.”

Speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said,

“I will sign this legislation into law shortly, and we’ll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done.”

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The measure was passed on a 246-183, with no Republican “yes” votes. It will now go to the Senate, where a vote is expected later Friday.

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“I think there’s the possibility, at least, of a relationship of mutual respect and progress,” Obama said at the first press conference of his young presidency, but “it’s time now for Iran to send some signals that it wants to act differently.”

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Russian approval

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Sunday he welcomed U.S. President Barack Obama’s offer to talk directly with Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Ivanov also said the new leaders who had come into office in the United States and Russia were capable of taking a new look at their bilateral problems.

“It is obvious that the new U.S. adminstration has a very strong desire to change and that inspires optimism,” he said.

Story on Kyivpost

Afghanistan timetable

In his first prime-time news conference, President Obama said he has no timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

Story on CQPolitics

Potentially breaking first campaign pledge

Obama appears poised to break his campaign pledge to give the public five days to review a bill before he signs it.

The quick turnaround breaches Obama’s promise to offer “sunlight before signing,” a concept he detailed on the campaign trail and on his website.

Story on Politico

Obama in his first prime-time news conference

President Barack Obama pressed Congress Monday night to urgently approve a massive economic recovery bill, using the first prime-time news conference of his presidency to warn that a failure to act;

“could turn a crisis into a catastrophe.”

He took his case for an $800 billion economic recovery package to one of the most distressed places in America on Monday as he opened a series of campaign-style events intended to press Congress to approve the plan by week’s end.

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Story on NYTimes

he said would “send a clear message that making our economy work means making sure it works for everybody.”

Story on NYTimes