Obama Signs Final Health Care Provisions Into Law

President Barack Obama signed the final pieces of the health insurance reform package into law today, making permanent a few improvements to the bill passed earlier this week. 

The improvements will ensure middle class families are not hurt by the provision designed to tax "Cadillac" health plans, and takes federal funding for some college scholarship programs away from commercial banks and focusing it instead on new education initiatives. 

The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) applauded the bill, saying "the decades-long struggle to make health care accessible, affordable and available to all has been achieved."  CWA has produced a quick analysis of what has been fixed, found by clicking here.  President Obama's speech about the bill can be seen below. 

A wealth of information about the reforms can be found on the web.

• CWA has prepared an informational sheet for you to educate your coworkers, which can be found here. 
• For a summary of the bill, click here, and for a timeline of how the changes will be implemented (including a list of the many provisions that take place nearly immediately), click here. 
• For more information on the insurance exchanges contained in the bill, click here. 
• There are also a range of websites offering comprehensive information about the bill.  CWA has an excellent one, found by clicking here.  You can find other examples by clicking here or here.