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"In our June issue, we went to some of the nation&amp;#x27;s top experts on health care reform to answer the questions that were most important to you. But the questions just keep comin&amp;#x27;! Here, three more issues cleared up for you...To answer a these Qs, we reached out to Casscells and Associates, a health care consulting firm led by S. Ward Casscells, M.D., former Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) who served under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and a professor of medicine and public health at the U of Texas at Houston. Here, his team members Hilary Lewis, J.D., Beeta Rasouli, MPH, and Hillary Critchley provide details: Q: &amp;amp;#8220;I have a question regarding the enforcement of the provisions on insurance companies not covering preexisting conditions or dropping you from coverage. What is the penalty to the insurance companies if they refuse to comply? I&amp;#x27;ve heard the fine is $100/day, but I don&amp;#x27;t know for sure. If that&amp;#x27;s what it is, insurance companies are as likely as not to pay the fine instead of insuring high risk patients.&amp;amp;#8221; &amp;amp;#8212;RollingWildheart A: Under the health insurance reform law, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny someone coverage or drop them from coverage because of a preexisting condition. Not complying with that will simply be against the law. The &amp;amp;#8220;penalty&amp;amp;#8221; you may be thinking of is the one that employers with 50 or more full-time employees may face starting in 2014 if they don&amp;amp;#8217;t offer coverage&amp;amp;#8212;or if their plans aren&amp;amp;#8217;t affordable enough&amp;amp;#8212;and employees apply for government help to pay their premiums. The formulas used for these penalties are different and are complicated, but the fines may be as much as $2,000 or $3,000 per employee. Q: &amp;amp;#8220;Is it true that the funding for this new health care reform will come from taxes that will be placed on my tuition fees?&amp;amp;#8221; &amp;amp;#8212; wat3rm3lon A: No. Although bills on education finance reform and health care reform were passed at the same time, the bills are not related. Funding for the health reform bill will most likely come from these sources, among a few others: * An annual fee on health insurance and pharmaceutical companies * An excise tax on medical device manufacturers * Elimination of employer deduction for retiree drug benefits * Higher Medicare payroll tax for individuals who earn more than $200,000/year * Tax on distributions from certain investment income for individuals who earn more than $200,000/year * Revenue from employers and individuals who choose not to purchase insurance * A 10% tax on indoor tanning services Q: &amp;amp;#8220;I&amp;#x27;ve heard that more &amp;#x27;preventive&amp;#x27; processes will be covered under the new healthcare plan. What kind of things could be included if this is the case? (maybe things like gym memberships and yoga classes? hey, a girl can dream, right?) I&amp;#x27;m a student, age 20, currently covered by my folks.&amp;amp;#8221; &amp;amp;#8212;elisam6482 A: All of the details aren&amp;amp;#8217;t worked out just yet. Until the Department of Health and Human Services writes all of the regulations for implementing the law, it is not clear exactly what will be considered &amp;amp;#8220;minimum essential coverage&amp;amp;#8221; for different insurance plans. However, preventive and wellness programs are one of the general categories of what must be covered. There are also provisions to study which types of &amp;amp;#8220;wellness and prevention&amp;amp;#8221; programs are most effective, so it is possible that things like yoga may become covered at a later date even if they are not included in initial &amp;amp;#8220;minimum essential coverage.&amp;amp;#8221; What other questions do you have about health care reform? More Ways to Get Glamour Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Add us to your iGoogle homepage Photo: iStock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2010/05/more-reader-health-care-reform>