What health reform means to you

Mar 29, 2010 — The Sun News

Mar. 29, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- After a year of speeches, protests and congressional negotiations, President Obama signed health care reform into law last week. Now begins the task of deciphering what's in the thousands of pages of legislation and of determining how those provisions will affect residents.

While many of the changes will not go into effect for about four years, several will begin almost immediately, some of which will resonate with those who live on the Grand Strand, including a new 10 percent tax on tanning beds, a payment to seniors to help pay for prescription medicine, an increase in the eligibility age for children to stay on their parents' insurance plans and a tax credit for small businesses that provide coverage to employees.

Expectations of area residents over the law's impact mirror those cited during the months-long debate: concern over the measure's cost and intrusion of government and hope that the bill's provisions will improve access to medical care.

Rosemary Tonjes, 72, of Southport, N.C., spoke for many as she tried to decipher what the new law will mean for her. She said all she heard about health reform so far was people arguing and hollering at each other.

"I haven't heard the policy," she said. "I think [the politics] is awful. I think it's ruining our country."

The tan tax

A 10 percent tax on indoor tanning-bed use has some people sweating what the cost increase will do to their businesses.

"I think the way the economy is, it's not good," said Heather Lippert, manager at Contempo Tan in Myrtle Beach. The shop where she works is locally owned, and she said that with people trying to conserve money these days, she hopes the additional cost won't deter people from tanning.

The tax is a replacement for the originally proposed "Botax," a 5 percent surcharge on some cosmetic procedures such as Botox injections and breast implants. That tax was removed from the health care reform measures after lobbying, according to a report on CNN.

Tan tax proponents say it will raise $2.7 billion over 10 years. It does not apply to spray-tans and bronzing lotions, only to electronic products that use ultraviolet lamps with wavelengths between 200 and 400 nanometers.

Mike Fiebernitz, owner of Ultimate Tann in Myrtle Beach, has 13 such beds in his salon.

"I guess I'll have to sell more spray tans," he said. "It is what it is. I don't support it, but I can't control it."

He said he plans to let customers known well ahead of the tentative July 1 implementation date, because it wouldn't be fair to just let them discover it on their sales receipts, he said. Lippert said she doesn't know yet what the shop will do about notifying customers or trying to offset the cost with specials.

Fiebernitz said he is "very worried" about how the new tax will affect his shop, where, during peak season, he sells between 100 and 120 tans a day.

But customer Kelly Brown said she thinks the tax is worth it to help pay for health care coverage for people who don't have it. She said she has an aunt, terminally ill with cancer, who would have been able to get treatment sooner had she had health care coverage.

"This is what we voted for," Brown said. "We voted for change, and now people are mad that things are changing. Is it 100 percent perfect? No, but it's a lot better than what we had."

Medicare

Health care reform isn't going to cut the basic benefits of Medicare and will phase out the gap in coverage for prescription medicine.

This year, Medicare recipients will get $250 from the government to help fill the gap, and next year, the government will pay 50 percent of the cost for brand name and biologic drugs, according to the AARP. Seniors who have Medicare Advantage coverage through private insurers will see the government's contribution to the cost phased out.

But this information doesn't seem to be getting out to all seniors. At least some at The Brunswick Center in Southport, N.C., say they don't know enough about the health reform bill to be able to comment on it. Generally, they favor health reform, but would also like to see drug and health insurance companies provide pills and policies that more people could afford without government assistance.

"Greed has come into play in this country," said Gail Anastasio, 60, of Southport.

Anastasio had a sister who lost her health care and died of colon cancer. Anastasio said her sister wasn't refused coverage because of the cancer, but could not afford to buy it herself when she left her job. As a result, Anastasio thinks the middle class has gotten the brunt of the burden from cuts to health care and she would like to see the government fix that.

Bobbie Wilson, 65, of Leland, said that health reform is needed, but she's against a government takeover of the health industry to do it.

"I don't think the way it was done was right," she said. "The people didn't have a vote in it."

Like others, Wilson doesn't know exactly what was done by the health reform legislation, but she doesn't trust government sources or AARP to give her accurate information. She's said she's on her own to find out, and that doesn't feel good.

Charles Brice, 70, of Southport, said he's comfortable with the little he knows about the reform so far.

"It sounds all right with me as long as they don't mess with my money," he said.

Coverage for young people

An extension of health care coverage for people up to age 26, courtesy of their parents' policies, gets a thumbs up from some young area residents who, like some of their parents, deem themselves lucky to have employment, much less insurance.

In six months, the new health plan will allow unmarried children to remain on their parents' insurance policies, at the parents' choice, until age 26, as long as they are claimed as their parents' dependents and don't have jobs that offer insurance.

Currently, most states limit that coverage. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, South Carolina defines dependent coverage as up to 19 for those who are unmarried and for ages 19 to 22 for unmarried, full-time students who are financially dependent on their parents.

Walter Kozlowski, a 23-year-old senior at Coastal Carolina University, plans to graduate in May with a major in health promotion.

"I'm trying to figure out where I want to be," said Koslowski about his career options after graduation. He said the extension would be a good option if he didn't get a job, but "because of the economy, my mom's unemployed, and we're both on COBRA."

Hope Derrick, with U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn's office, said under the new extension, those who are not yet 26 but are not currently on their parents' policies will be allowed to go back on their policies, and that also should apply to COBRA, Derrick said, which would be good news for Kozlowski.

Kozlowski said the new extension will aid students such as his roommate, who graduated in December. Kozlowski said he's taking off a semester before starting graduate school in the fall, so he doesn't have insurance at the moment.

Jennifer Hymanson, 21, has worked at Margaritaville for three years and is a full-time employee. She said she has two brothers who also work there: One is 24 and works full time, and the other is 20, a student who works part time.

Hymanson said her younger brother doesn't have insurance and would be able to benefit under the extension, "but right now, my mom doesn't have insurance."

"If you're [at Margaritaville] full time, you get insurance," Hymanson said, but these days, "it's hard to get full-time jobs."

Impact on small businesses

The health care bill included a provision designed to help small businesses provide health insurance for their employees, but local business owners had mixed opinions on how it might affect them.

Beginning in July, businesses with 10 or fewer full-time equivalent employees that earn less than $25,000 a year on average are qualified for a tax credit of 35 percent of health insurance costs. Companies with 11 to 25 employees who earn an average of up to $50,000 are eligible for partial credits. Businesses must pay at least 50 percent of premiums to qualify for the credit.

Lee Disposal Services, a Myrtle Beach company, employs about 11 people and doesn't provide health insurance, said Peggy Lee, the owner.

"We're struggling just to make it through this economy," Lee said. "When the economy went bazooka, the first thing that had to go was paying toward their health insurance."

While she hates not being able to provide insurance, including to her sons who work for the business, it is not financially possible and a tax credit wouldn't help.

"The credit is not going to offset the cost," Lee said.

But for Heidi Vukov, the owner of Croissants Bistro and Bakery in Myrtle Beach, a tax credit sounds like it could help her provide benefits to her 15 full-time employees.

Any relief would be welcome with health insurance costs rising every year, she said.

"It's making it where it's not affordable to be able to provide for your employees," Vukov said. Still, Vukov has never considered cutting the benefits to her employees.

She said the plan to have a state Small Business Health Options Programs by 2014, which will allow small businesses to join a pool to buy insurance, should help reduce costs.

"I think that's probably why our rates are so high, because we're not a big corporation that has a lot of employees," Vukov said.

Vukov is still a bit skeptical and will wait to see how the plan affects her bottom line.

"I'm curious to see though, once everything is said and done if there are any stipulations, any loopholes where you wouldn't be able to qualify," she said.

Mark Ousley one of the partners at Full Steam Ahead Inc., which wouldn't likely qualify for any credit because it has about 30 employees, said he is still waiting to see what will happen with the bill.

"At this point we really don't know how it's going to affect us. It's early on," he said.

Ousley said that the company's philosophy is to provide employees benefits so a tax incentive or penalty isn't necessary to ensure they have health insurance.

"We kind of dictate that upon ourselves," he said. "It's critical that we take care of our employees so we can all take care of our customers."

Staff writers Vicki Grooms, Steve Jones, Adva Saldinger and Lorena Anderson contributed to this report.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0119-43342314