Today marks the opening of the 2012 application cycle for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. Primary care medical, dental, and mental/behavioral health clinicians are able to pay down their educational debt, and earn a competitive salary, while providing comprehensive care in underserved communities.

School Based Health Centers expand preventive and primary care and help our children grow healthy and strong.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap known as the donut hole is starting to close. Through the end of October, 2.65 million people with Medicare have received discounts on brand name drugs in the donut hole. These discounts have saved seniors and people with disabilities a total of $1.5 billion on prescriptions – averaging about $569 per person.

If you’ve been thinking about changing your Medicare coverage, the time to act is now. The dates for Medicare Open Enrollment are early this year to allow for a smoother transition to a new plan. Not only did Open Enrollment start earlier, but it also ends earlier – the last day for you to change your Medicare plan is now December 7.

Just as different people have different health care needs, so does each State. In order to meet different health care demands, today we are announcing our plans to give States across the country additional flexibility and resources to implement the health care law to best meet the needs of their citizens.

This month, we’re highlighting the many reasons to be thankful for these new benefits. So we put out the call asking you to give us a few examples about the new health care benefits you’re thankful for, and share stories about how you’ve been helped by the law. Already, on we’ve heard from hundreds of you. Using the hashtag #ThanksHCR, here are just a few examples of what people across America have said on Twitter.

This year, people need to make any changes to Medicare coverage even sooner – by December 7 – because Open Enrollment ends earlier.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we are beginning to see more coordinated care by encouraging providers to work together. In the last few weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a number of initiatives to achieve coordinated care for beneficiaries with Medicare.

Recently, five more States strengthened their laws protecting consumers in disputes with their health insurance plans. The District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin have bolstered their laws surrounding the part of the appeals process known as “external review.” These five States join 33 others that provide these State-based external review protections that ensure consumers have a voice. The remaining States’ consumers are protected by a Federal process. The strengthened appeals rights are one of several common-sense consumer protections and insurance market reforms established by the Affordable Care Act.

Today, we’re announcing our first decision as part of the rate review process, including the decision that one insurance company’s plan to raise rates in Pennsylvania was unreasonable.

We’ve added a new service to further help small businesses find the right health care coverage for their employees.

In addition to featuring information about new benefits in the law, HealthCare.gov also has a health insurance finder tool, which displays information about insurance plans with estimated base rates, doctor choices, number of applications that were denied, and other details that allow consumers to compare options. And as of today, this insurance tool includes private coverage options for small businesses: http://finder.healthcare.gov/.

As a fourth year medical student, you make one of the toughest decisions of your life: what field of medicine to enter. Today, with the help of the Affordable Care Act, we are launching a new effort to help more medical students become primary care physicians.

The Obama Administration recently launched the Health Care Innovation Challenge. Made possible by the Affordable Care Act, this initiative will invest up to $1 billion in the best projects that doctors, hospitals, and other innovators propose to deliver high-quality medical care and save money. Projects that win this competition will use health care dollars more wisely, help create jobs, and help professionals improve the work they do for patients.

There are a lot of ways that the law, signed 20 months ago, has provided significant relief to families throughout the country, easing worries and ensuring that focus is on health, not on fighting with insurance companies over the phone. Chances are, someone in your family is seeing new rights and benefits. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, during the month of November on our Twitter and Facebook pages we’ll be highlighting these benefits and sharing some of the stories we’ve heard from people around the country who have been helped by the law. We also want to hear from you, so we encourage you to tell us your story about how you’ve been helped by benefits in the law. Share on Twitter with the hashtag #ThanksHCR. You can find us on Twitter at: @HealthCareGov.