Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 April 2010 — Page 34

Page 34 • The Muncie Times • April 16, 2010

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continued from page 33 away. He adds, what does change under the new plan is an increase in protections provided to Americans. Specifically, the new proposal outlaws discrimination against Americans with pre-exist-ing medical conditions and does not allow insurance companies to deny coverage to a person because he or she has gotten sick. It reduces costs for people who currently have insurance and makes coverage more affordable for people without it. It also sets up a new competitive insurance market where small business owners and families are

allowed to shop for the insurance plan that works best for them. Health care reform measures such as protections for people with pre-exist-ing conditions are keys because, if statistics were to tell the story, Black people are the sickest but the least likely to get helped. Just under half of all African-Americans suffer from some kind of chronic disease and the Black community continues to bear the brunt of the AIDS epidemic. Of the 1.1 million people in the US infected with HIV just under half are African-American, according to statistics reported by the Center for

Disease Control. For context, blacks make up only 12 percent of the U.S. population, citing 2000 census figures. And while the health reform bill is a step in the right direction in helping African-Americans living with HIV and AIDS there are miles to go before anybody can sleep, says Phil Wilson, president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. It might well be what change looks like but It is not yet meaningful enough reform," he wrote in a statement. In addition to the provisions that expands coverage, closes the doughnut holef for prescription

drugs and makes discrimination against people living with pre-existing conditions illegal two other measures critically important to people with chronic diseases, according to Wilson, include: The individual mandate The bill includes an "individual mandate" provision that requires that all Americans retain health insurance is expected to drive down insurance premiums and it obligates the federal government to subsidize those unable to afford coverage. Prohibitions on lifetime caps The new law prohibits insurance companies from placing limits on how much coverage a

plan will cover in an insured person's lifetime, which is especially important for people with longterm chronic conditions. Wilson said, historically, people with AIDS have experienced major barriers to obtaining health insurance and keeping it, especially when purchasing insurance as an individual. Given the potential enormous cost of life-sav-ing HIV treatments over one's lifetime, "guaranteed availability and renewability of coverage" is a key victory for people with AIDS.