Suburbanites tell why they welcome health care reform

While the public debates the broad principles of the new health care law, some suburban residents anticipate direct effects, both good and bad.

Those with limited or no health insurance are breathing a sigh of relief that they'll have financial and medical security.

Those with businesses or incomes that will be hit by taxes or government intrusion are dreading higher costs and more red tape.

The true impact of the new health insurance regulations remains to be seen over the next decade. Advocates say those who have insurance can keep it, while opponents believe government subsidies will drive up costs and lead companies to abandon their health plans.

Companies with more than 50 employees will face financial penalties for not covering workers, while companies smaller than that will get subsidies to provide coverage for employees.

Here are the faces of some who will be directly affected.

Laid offLast year, Neerja Bylsma lost her job as a network engineer at Motorola Inc. in Schaumburg as part of mass layoffs.She has continued to buy health insurance coverage for her family of three through COBRA for about $1,200 a month.When that coverage ends after 18 months, Bylsma is anticipating getting new tax credits under health care reform through her husband's small business, so she will pay only 35 percent of her premiums. When the government begins offering group rates to individuals and the uninsured in 2014, she hopes to get in. Otherwise, as a type II diabetic whose husband has a kidney condition, she was quoted an insurance rate of $1,650 a month.She is relieved that under health reform, her health plan will be required to cover her daughter up to age 26.Bylsma, of Kildeer, previously lived in Canada and was happy with the national health care there."I'm of the opinion basic health care should not be a privilege, just like going to school up to high school is not considered a privilege," she said. "Otherwise, America becomes a place just for the young, successful and healthy."Tan taxOne industry is almost sure to be negatively affected by the health care law: indoor tanning.Dave Balthazor, owner of Day at the Beach tanning salon in Gurnee, said his industry is being unfairly picked on with the new 10 percent tax on services effective July 1."They felt we were easy prey and would be an opportunity to create a lot of money," he said. "The majority of tanning salons in the country are owned by mom and pop. We're not going to be a big lobby that can go against it."Advocates of the tax, like Sen. Dick Durbin, argue it's a sin tax like those that discourage other unhealthy habits like alcohol or cigarettes, because tanning increases the risk of skin cancer.People who tan indoors also tan outdoors, Balthazor argued, saying indoor tanning is more controlled and less likely to burn - but the sun can't be taxed or regulated.The fast-food industry contributes to the nation's obesity epidemic, he argued, but wasn't touched."You're next," he told one hair stylist, predicting other services will be next to be taxed.Cancer survivorValerie Ihara of Palatine is a cancer survivor.Five years ago, she found out a lump in her throat was thyroid cancer. She had her thyroid removed and was treated with radiation.She has been cancer-free since then but has to keep going back for expensive body scans to make sure the cancer has not returned.She has insurance through her husband's employer, but when her husband retires in two years, she fears she will be in trouble.With her pre-existing condition and the expensive tests, she was quoted an insurance rate of $2,000 a month with a $10,000 deductible for partial coverage."There's no way I can afford it," she said. "That will bankrupt us in a very short time."So she is looking forward to getting subsidies to buy insurance with group rates through the new legislation in 2014. "I am very hopeful," she said. "My faith in my government has been restored."Medium-sized businessAmong business owners, uncertainty abounds as they try to figure out the impact of the 2,400-page legislation.Dave Kelsch, president and owner of Advanced Data Technologies in Naperville, said he's still trying to figure out all the consequences."Some form of fix of the health care industry was needed," Kelsch said, "but something of this magnitude is a bit overwhelming and too much involvement of the government."Data Technologies provides health coverage to its 75 employees, so it won't be affected by new requirements to provide insurance.But since businesses have to pay $2,000 for every full-time equivalent employee they don't insure, Kelsch said, and family coverage costs $18,000 a year, more companies may decide to simply drop coverage, the opposite of the intended outcome."It's providing coverage for everybody that doesn't have it, and how they tax those costs, that concerns me," Kelsch said.Part-timerBobbie McDaniel of Des Plaines works part time as a geriatric nurse and gets no health coverage from her employer.She is among the 46 million Americans without insurance - 15 percent of the population, according to the U.S. Census.McDaniel gets medical care through Access to Care, which connects the uninsured to volunteer doctors throughout Cook County's suburbs.Her husband, a military veteran, died in 1989, after exposure years before to Agent Orange. She is still waiting to see money from a lawsuit settlement over that.Sending three children to college exhausted her savings. At age 64, McDaniel is nearly ready to go on Medicare but hoping she can last without a major health problem until then."I'm very healthy, but you don't know what's down the road," she said. "Anybody could get sick tomorrow."Home health careHome health equipment providers will be subject to accelerated competitive bidding requirements. That sounds good, but Mike Maggiore, manager of RehabTech Inc. in Naperville and Burr Ridge, which provides wheelchairs and other equipment, calls it a misnomer.Maggiore predicts many providers will get lost in the bidding process and go out of business, jobs will be lost, and service will suffer.Now, customers can get different equipment, such as beds, oxygen and wheelchairs, from one provider, but in the future, Maggiore said, they might have to deal with three different bid winners.The more complicated regulations, he says, will produce more red tape."Out-of-pocket costs for Medicare recipients will go down," he said, "but service and access to equipment will be affected. Does anybody really want their health care delivered by the lowest bidder?"The doughnut holeLisa Jackson of Elmhurst found out about the Medicare "doughnut hole" when she suddenly had to pay $800 a month for her medications.Medicare Part D plans, through private insurers, cover 75 percent of the first $2,380 for her medications, but then the individual pays for everything until costs for the drugs reach $6,440, when Medicare coverage resumes. A widowed mom who is disabled from a connective tissue disorder and can't work, McDaniel said she couldn't afford that kind of money.So she started cutting back on her 10 medications for connective tissue disease and other conditions, in some cases taking one pill a day instead of the prescribed two.She would rather not take so many medications and has tried to work with her doctor to cut back, but said she then ends up getting in worse condition and going to the hospital, which is much more expensive.Health care reform will cover 50 percent of brand-name drugs in the doughnut hole next year, then slowly increase coverage and eliminate the gap in a decade.Jackson can't wait."I think we all deserve to be covered," she said.Business ownerAfter 24 years of paying for insurance, Dan Sherry missed a payment, and his insurance company dropped his coverage.Sherry, who lives in Barrington and has high cholesterol, was unable to get affordable insurance for several years. He finally got temporary insurance that lasts only six months at a time and does not cover anything associated with high cholesterol, such as stroke or heart disease.As owner of The ID Store in Barrington, Sherry hadn't anticipated such a turn of events, but now he is looking forward to health care reform giving him subsidies and helping him to get into a pool that will lower the cost for him to buy insurance for himself and his family."I never expected to be here," he said.True17141224Nurse Bobbie McDaniel of Des Plaines is uninsured and holds her Access to Care card, which provides her access to doctors.Bob Chwedyk | Staff PhotographerTrue <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=370128">Business owners fear costs, regulations of health-care reform <span class="date">[04/01/10]</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div><p class="factboxheadblack">Who will be affected by the new health insurance law<p class="News">Those with pre-existing medical conditions can no longer be denied coverage.</p><p class="News">The uninsured, small business owners and self-employed will get subsidies or tax credits to buy insurance at group rates in an insurance exchange or pool.</p><p class="News">Seniors on Medicare Part D: By 2020 the law will eliminate the "doughnut hole" gap in coverage in which seniors must pay all medical expenses above $2,380 until catastrophic coverage begins at $6,440.</p><p class="News">Companies with more than 50 employees that don't offer insurance: If workers get subsidized by the government, companies will pay $2,000 per employee, or per two part-time employees.</p><p class="News">Unemployed college grads under 26: coverage will be required on parent's policy.</p><p class="News">Family of four under $29,327 income get expanded Medicaid.</p><p class="News">Childless couple will get Medicaid for the first time.</p><p class="News">Families of four making up to $88,200 get increased tax credits.</p><p class="News">Those making over $200,000, or married couples over $250,000, pay increased Medicare payroll tax, and tax on investment income of 3.8 percent.</p>