Health care law not perfect but good start

It has been a year since the Patient Protection and Affordable CareAct was signed into law. Now is an appropriate time to step back and review its impact on Iowans.

Qualifying small businesses can now receive tax credits to cover

35 percent of the cost of providing health insurance coverage to their employees. Young adults will be able to stay on their parents' insurance plans until their 26th birthday. Insurance plans are barred from placing lifetime limits on the amount of health insurance an individual can receive, and many preventive services are fully covered.

Additionally, thousands of seniors will receive a rebate to help close the Medicare “doughnut hole,” and there are new tools in place to better protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid.

Admittedly, President Obama and his administration have not enacted a perfect law, but every effort moving forward should continue to make extending high-quality health care, and reigning in costs, a major focus.

Helane Golden

Cedar Rapids