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"When you hear the words &amp;quot;health care reform&amp;quot; do your eyes glaze over? There&amp;#x27;s been so much back and forth on Capitol Hill on the topic, but with the recent news that the legislation has finally passed, you may be wondering, &amp;quot;what does this all mean to me?&amp;quot; This Q&amp;amp;A with expert Andrew Rubin will quickly bring you up to speed... I recently spoke to Andrew Rubin, the Vice President for Medical Center Clinical Affairs for NYU Langone Medical Center, who is an expert on the business of heath care. He talks about these topics, and more, on his weekly call-in radio show, HealthCare Connect, on Sirius/XM. SJ: What&amp;#x27;s the latest news on health care reform--and why should we be paying attention to all the details coming out of Capital Hill and the White House (even when it makes our eyes glaze over a little)? As hard as it is to comprehend, now is the time to really start paying attention to what is happening. When the whole process of reforming the nation&amp;#x27;s health care system started 9 months ago, there were so many competing versions of bills, opinions, issues, and lobbyist that it quickly became very confusing and difficult to follow what was both happening in real time and what was going to happen in the future. We are now at the point where we are going to see what health care access will look like for all of us. The House voted and passed on their version of the health care reform bill on Saturday night which includes a national government sponsored health plan which many predicted would never happen. It also includes individual mandates which will require everyone in the country, young and old, to carry health care insurance or pay a financial penalty. While it remains too early to predict the future given the Senate still has to work out their version and then reconcile, what is decided in the next few weeks, will impact all of us, young and old, for the rest of our lives. Now is the time to listen and let your voice be heard. SJ: Can you give us the scoop on each side of the issue--what are both sides saying? AR: Simply put, from my perspective, the single most important component of reform is equal access to health care services and health care insurance for everyone. Even with preexisting conditions or limited financial resources, if you want health insurance, you will be able to get it. Democrats, in general are advocating for a public insurance option, which is included in the recently passed House Bill, one run like Medicare, to compete with the private insurance industry. Advocates of this approach believe it will be the most cost effective way to provide insurance to everyone and manage costs. Those opposed believe it puts the government further into the health care business, and will ultimately lead to an expensive, inefficient entitlement program. Again, whether the public option makes it through in the final bill is still an open question. The biggest downside, again from my perspective, will be the costs. There is no question this is going to be expensive. Whether money is raised through new fees/taxes or cuts/changes in existing programs, the cost to the country is going to be significant. Americans are going to be faced with difficult choices down the road that we have never addressed before as a collective society. As technology advances and new treatments and drugs come to market, the price tag is going to be significant. Getting costs under control is going to be critical to reforming the system. In the bill passed in the house on Saturday night and in the unfinished Senate bill, there are still many unanswered questions on how costs will be controlled in the future. SJ: Now that President Obama&amp;#x27;s plan seems to be on track, what will it mean for me, you, and the single mom in Iowa who makes minimum wage? Sadly, many people making minimum wage cannot afford health care insurance and already have limited access to preventative health care services. When something goes wrong, the hard working people end up in the emergency room, an expensive place to get care. Unable to afford the bills, people go broke. Under all of the different versions of health care reform in Congress, these hard working people will now be able to get health insurance. There will be subsidies available for those who cannot afford the premiums based on guidelines that have not yet been finalized as there is no single reconciled bill. The insurance will include many services including primary care with the goal of keeping people out of the hospital/emergency room. It is the minimum wage worker or single mom who will benefit the most. SJ: What&amp;#x27;s your opinion on the state of health care in America, as it is now? AR: I believe America has the most sophisticated medical care in the world. So much of what is developed in this country in terms of research and technology benefits the entire world, even those countries that provide universal access to health care. In contrast, I also believe our system for delivering health care in this country is severely broken and must be fixed. I hear from too many people on my radio show who cannot afford health care insurance or have the means to purchase it but simply cannot get approved for it because they have preexisting conditions. These are not people sitting around doing nothing. These are hard working and decent Americans trying to get by and be healthy. We must try our hardest to put politics aside and come together to guarantee health care access to everyone in this country. As I have been saying all along, whatever happens over the next few months is not going to be perfect. The current health care system is too big and complex. So whatever we do today will have a big impact tomorrow. My point is we will make mistakes along the way. We will have to fix them as they come. No plan, either from the democrats or republicans is going to work perfectly. Each has good parts and bad. Ironically, we will not fully know the total impact until the reform starts and the system begins its transformation. Then we will fix it and make it work better. The current crisis took decades to break. Reforming the system will take almost as long. SJ: What are some things that women can do to feel more informed on this topic? AR: When women (or men) read or hear about health care or health care reform, we have a tendency to tune it out. When we are healthy, it&amp;#x27;s the last thing we focus on in our daily lives. The problems start when we or our loved ones get sick and have limited or no health care coverage. The key is to plan ahead. Understand your health care benefits. Read your open enrollment materials (if you are lucky enough to have insurance) to make sure you know what type of insurance you are buying. We all research what kind of car we want before we buy one--we all talk to the sales people about which flat screen TV is the best for our needs, we should all do the same with our health care. Additionally, women should watch TV and read the newspapers (or listen to my radio show) to make sure they understand what is being discussed in Washington. If you have not thought about it before, now is the time to question whether it is acceptable for a woman to be denied health insurance because her pregnancy is considered a preexisting condition and wonder if it is OK for a woman to have to pay up to 50% more than a man for the same insurance policy. We may not understand all of it, but that&amp;#x27;s OK. Follow as much as you can and if you like it or do not like it, call your congressman and let them know how you feel--now is the time to be informed. Thank you, Andrew! (P.S. Visit his Web site for more comprehensive info on this topic.) More reading: *He&amp;#x27;s a meat lover, you&amp;#x27;re a veggie lover--here&amp;#x27;s your healthy solution... *This woman was arrested for drinking while breastfeeding... *I love this health advice from Leslie of Never Say Diet! More Ways to Get Glamour You could win $50,000 just for registering or logging in to Glamour.com! Sign up for Glamour.com&amp;#x27;s Style Tips of the Week and Beauty Tip of the Day newsletters! Add Glamour to your iGoogle homepage. Follow us on Twitter! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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