Confused about healthcare reform and what it means for you? You're not alone! We've received a lot of questions about how women and children will be impacted by the recent passage of healthcare reform. So, with the assistance of our brilliant policy partners, we put together a handy-dandy list of key components for children and families in healthcare reform that will be implemented over the next few years. Feel free to forward this information far & wide to friends and family too. We bet they'll thank you!

What are some healthcare highlights for children and families?

This Year - The following is a short list of key, important changes that will happen this year due to the passage of healthcare reform: [1]*

-Insurance companies will no longer be able to refuse to pay for treatment of children's pre-existing conditions.

-Health care plans will allow young people to remain on their parents' insurance policy up until their 26th birthday, as long as they are not eligible for employer-sponsored health insurance coverage.

-Insurance companies will be banned from dropping people from coverage when they get sick, and they will be banned from implementing lifetime caps on coverage.

-People who are uninsured because of pre-existing conditions will have access to affordable insurance through a temporary subsidized high-risk pool.

-Small businesses that choose to offer coverage will begin to receive tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums to help make employee coverage more affordable.

2014 - The following is a short list of key, important changes that will happen in 2014 due to the passage of healthcare reform: [2]*

-Insurance companies will be banned from denying health insurance coverage to people of all ages because of pre-existing conditions.

-Families and children with moderate incomes (up to about $88,000 for a family of four) will be able to get help paying for health insurance coverage.

-State insurance exchanges will enforce minimum benefit standards for health insurance coverage.

*Want more detailed information? Go here: http://action.momsrising.org/cms/sign/how-will-healthcare-reform-affect-my-family/

Have friends who are confused about what healthcare reform means for their families too? Click here to see our great resource page that can easily be shared with friends: http://action.momsrising.org/cms/sign/how-will-healthcare-reform-affect-my-family/

There is a lot of misinformation right now about what is in the health reform bill. Please take a minute to share this information with family and friends.

Thank you for your support of America's families!

To read more about what's in the healthcare bill, click here to visit our special webpage: http://action.momsrising.org/cms/sign/how-will-healthcare-reform-affect-my-family/

For more information on how health reform affects communities of color, check out this great blog post by Ellen Wu of the California Pan Ethnic Health Network: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/what-does-obama%E2%80%99s-health-reform-mean-for-you/

Big thank you to our policy partners at Families USA for their help with this message and all their great work on behalf of America's families.

[1,2]:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/what-health-bill-means-for-you/
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/21/us/health-care-reform.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/23/whats-health-care-bill