Section 2707, Comprehensive Health Insurance Coverage, of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R.3590) talks about how employers must offer health insurance plans that provide essential health benefits: These benefits include such things as: ambulatory patient services (outpatient services), emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and substance use disorder service which includes behavioral health treatment, prescription drugs, rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, laboratory services, preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management, and pediatric services which include oral and vision care. The annual limitation for deductibles is $2,000 for plans covering a single individual or $4,000 for all other plans. There is no "dental only" plan that has to be offered with this coverage.
I feel this option should be offered, no matter, to all individuals. Any of these services listed could cost hundreds to thousands of dollars and if it is not covered or partially covered by ones health insurance, this could be a very pricy out-of-pocket expense. For example, a birth of a child, where there are no complications, can cost anywhere from $5,000-$12,000 and a birth with complications can cost anywhere from $50,000 on up. In an article out in 2006, 1 in 4 new parents spend more than $2,000 out-of-pocket because insurance will not cover the whole cost. If one does not have insurance coverage they could potentially face years of debt or even have to file medical bankruptcy.
Overall, I feel this should be included in all health insurance and this would be beneficial to those who are offered insurance by their employer, the losers in this situation could be the employer, depending on how much the cost of coverage would go up and how much more they are willing to pay per employee. One could also argue that the employee, themselves, could potentially be the losers because they might have to pay higher premiums because the employer cannot afford to. In the long run, this would also be beneficial to society because with more people having comprehensive insurance, there should be fewer individuals out of work because they are better able to get the help and care they need. Even though the deductible limit that has been set seems high, it would be argued that it is much lower than if you had to pay for laboratory services by yourself, which could run thousands of dollars for one laboratory service. Lastly, I think that all individuals should have health insurance and dental insurance offered through their employer; if they do not want certain coverage, which is fine as long as it is offered to them.
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3590/text
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/2006/12/the_cost_of_raising_baby.html
