At least there's one group that's happy about health care reform. According to the American Lung Association (ALA), the new health care bill will improve health in America and help prevent chronic diseases, such as lung disease.
Lung disease currently affects over 35 million Americans, and is the third leading cause of death. According to the ALA, prevention and wellness are the foundations of effective health care reform, and the new legislation focuses on those areas.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a federal statute that was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barack Obama. This act offers provisions that protect patients, including banning lifetime dollar limits on insurance policies, banning denials for pre-existing conditions, and eliminating policy cancellations when someone is sick. The act promotes preventative health care at all ages to help Americans live healthy lives.
The act will also contain new preventative initiatives that will reduce the financial and health toll of tobacco use. This will include initiatives for group health plans and for insurers to cover smoking cessation and services to prevent lung disease. Despite the fact that the legislation did not extend tobacco cessation coverage for all Medicaid recipients, it will help to improve health and prevent lung disease through education and prevention.
The ALA, now in its second century, works to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease.
