Insurance agents speak on coming health care plan

    A great deal of the new federal health care legislation relates to health insurance. The law includes new regulations, taxes, and subsidies for health insurance, most of which are still being digested by the insurance industry. Ron Goodwin is an insurance agent for MAX Insurance Agency in Kalona, and said that he knows the main points of the legislation, but not quite every detail.

    ?I know that it will cover a lot more people, and I think that?s a good idea,? said Goodwin. ?There are a lot of uninsured people in the country. Some reform was definitely needed.?

    Specifically, the law would expand coverage to 32 million people who are uninsured. It would provide subsidies for insurance premiums to people who make between 100 to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, which for a family of four is about $22,000. There is a limit to how much the recipients have to contribute to their premiums based on their income.

For more, see our March 25 print edition.