Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) Announces Launch of www.insureUStoday.org

New Website to Add Clarity on Insurance Reform Features and Benefits for Consumers

HAMPTON, Va., Dec. 20, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) and its companion organization, the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF), were founded on the principle that health care is a basic human need and shared social responsibility.  Annually, PAF receives thousands of contacts requesting information and assistance via their toll-free hotline as well as online, with complete direct, sustained case management services provided to patients from all fifty states free of charge.  

Many patients served remain confused about the healthcare benefits that are now available to them since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on March 23, 2010. In an effort to answer the most commonly asked questions about insurance benefit changes in the PPACA, the Patient Advocate Foundation and Patient Action Council have established www.insureUStoday.org. This website is supported by a toll-free number offering personalized services to those with questions and is constructed in a blog format, allowing visitors to post in real time their questions that are then answered by insurance specialists from PAF.  

"We are pleased to provide www.insureUStoday.org to the millions of Americans who have questions about the complex changes in healthcare reform and what they will mean," said Nancy Davenport-Ennis, President and CEO of PAF. "By providing a reform implementation timeline, frequently asked questions and an informational resource section that is interactive, we are providing current information to address questions which may help people efficiently access the quality care they need and deserve."

The comprehensive website will provide information on the insurance reform features of the Affordable Care Act including the following:  

• Exclusion of pre-existing conditions terms for children and adults
• Extended coverage for dependents
• Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) for at risk patients
• Elimination of lifetime annual caps on health insurance plans
• Medicare Part D rebates
• No-cost preventative care
• Appeal coverage determinations  
• Inability of insurance companies to cancel policies for anything other than fraud

Based on Patient Advocate Foundation's years of service to both insured and uninsured consumers facing healthcare access issues, the need to provide comprehensive information to Americans about the specific insurance reform features and benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provision was an immediate and moral imperative.  

The information will continue to evolve as healthcare reform is implemented and/or changed to ensure Americans have access to important information of implementation schedules and benefits.  

To access InsureUSToday, visit: www.insureustoday.org. Organizations that want to include this resource on their websites are invited to contact Erin Moaratty, PAF's Chief of External Communications at (800) 532-5274 ext 1150 or [email protected].

National Patient Advocate Foundation, policy representative of PAF, acknowledges the recent election results may impact this legislation and the benefits we have been addressing.

For more information about PAF, visit www.patientadvocate.org or call toll free (800) 532-5274. Patient Advocate Foundation established the Patient Action Council (PAC) in 2008, a collaboration of professional nurses who now serve in leadership roles in their national pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as national patient advocacy representatives. As Delegates to PAC, together with PAF leaders we address one major healthcare access issue a year. Delegates are Kathryn West, Advocacy Director, Amgen Oncology; Allicia C. Girvan, Director, Global Advocacy and Professional Relations, Lilly USA, LLC; Debbie E. Freire, Vice President, Oncology Affairs & Patient Advocacy, Novartis Oncology; Patti Jewell, MPA, Senior Director Oncology Public Affairs, Pfizer Inc. and Kesslyn Smith, Director, Patient Access and Advocacy, sanofi-aventis, L.L.C. In 2009, the PAC Delegates with PAF developed the National Underinsured Resource Directory, a national on-line tutorial tool identifying resources for the user in their particular marketplace.  To access the National Underinsured Resource Directory, visit: http://patientadvocate.org/help4u.php.

SOURCE Patient Advocate Foundation