Preliminary analysis of affordability, coverage and fiscal responsibility provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for Louisiana

November 19, 2009

The legislation introduced by Majority Leader Reid is an important step forward in addressing
urgent health care needs in Louisiana and nationally, in a fiscally responsible manner that
controls costs for families and the health care system and reduces the deficit.

• The bill would ban insurance companies from denying people coverage because they
have pre‐existing conditions.
• The bill would provide tax credits to small businesses and working families Louisiana to
help defray the cost of purchasing private health coverage
• The bill would extend health coverage to an estimated half‐a‐million people in Louisiana
who’ve lost their health coverage.
• The bill will make health care more affordable for small businesses and families faced
with skyrocketing health care costs.
• The bill would REDUCE the federal deficit by $130 billion from 2010‐2019, and as much
as $650 billion over the next ten years.
• Seven out of eight people receiving coverage in the new Health Care Exchange would
obtain it through a private insurance company rather than a public option
• The total cost of the bill is $849 billion

More work needs to be done to improve affordability for working families, particular lowerincome
families, who make up seven out of ten of those who currently lack health coverage in
the state.