Immediate results of reform would help

Here are some immediate results that passing a health care bill could bring:

Eliminating caps: If you buy a policy, a health-care company will not be able to place a lifetime or annual cap on how much it will cover.

Pre-existing conditions: The Senate bill includes $5 billion in immediate support to provide temporary coverage to uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions. This would help until the new health care exchanges in the Senate bill begin in 2014.

Children: Another thing that's going to be important, CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger said, is no exclusion of children with pre-existing conditions.

Dependent children: Your children will be covered until age 26.

Small business tax credits: Those tax credits are aimed at helping small businesses buy health insurance for their employees.

Preventive care: All new insurance plans, President Barack Obama said, would be required to offer free preventive care in order to “catch preventable illnesses and diseases on the front end.”

Appeals process: An independent appeals process will be set up for those who feel that they were unfairly denied a claim by their insurance company.

Help for seniors: If you fall into the Medicare Part D Drug Benefit coverage gap, dubbed the “doughnut hole,” you will receive $250 to help pay for prescriptions.

I know there are philosophical differences in Washington, so nothing better was presented.

But this is better than doing nothing, and the Washington GOP seems to prefer big business, big insurance companies, and only helping those already rich.

Judy Pfohl

Iowa City