Obamacare, formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and often just referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is a law that gives all Americans new health care rights, benefits, and protections. The law has four main goals:
1. Reduce the amount of money the government spends on health care.
2. Make health care and health insurance better.
3. Regulate health insurance and health care providers.
4. Allow people with no health insurance to get insured.
Obamacare also creates a health insurance marketplace where health insurance regulated and subsidized by the federal government can be purchased.
Open enrollment
Obamacare marketplaces for health insurance will accept applicants beginning October 1st, 2013 and ending March 31st, 2014.
Detailed information about the law
— Length of the Affordable Care Act: The article's length of more than 1000 pages has been widely reported in the media. However, most of the law's important content is within its first 140 pages.
— Implementation dates: Most of the law takes effect in 2014. The law was signed in 2010, and parts of the law will be implemented year-by-year until the whole law takes effect in 2022.
— People who are uninsured: In 2013, there about 44 million people in the U.S. without health insurance coverage. That made up around 16 percent of the population. Obamacare intends to assist individuals and families who cannot afford health insurance by offering subsidized health insurance and loosening Medicaid eligibility requirements.
— Health insurance subsidies: Families and individuals with incomes lower than four times the federal poverty level are eligible for health insurance plans with lower out-of-pocket expenses and premiums. Four times the federa...
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— Medicaid expansion: Fifteen million uninsured Americans will have access to Medicaid.
— Tax assistance for small businesses: Small business with less than 25 full-time employees will be able to apply for assistance such as tax credits to encourage businesses not subject to the employer mandate to provide health insurance to their employees.
— Health care quality: New regulations that the law provides are intended to increase the quality of health care plans.
Obamacare politics and origins
The law is based on health care reforms that took place in Massachusetts with the guidance of Republican governor Mitt Romney. These reforms are often referred to as Romneycare. Romneycare itself was based on ideas originating from both of the United States' major political parties. Obamacare's individual mandate was originally thought of by the Heritage Foundation in 1989.
Due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law on March 23rd, 2010; health care in the US is presently in a state of much needed transition. As of 2008, 46 Million residents (15% of the population) were uninsured and 60% of residents had coverage from private insurers. 55% of those covered by private insurers received it through their employer and 5% paid for it directly. Federal programs covered 24% of Americans; 13% under Medicare and10% under Medicaid. (Squires, 2010)
The Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” was designed to assure that all Americans regardless of health status have access to affordable health insurance. The Affordable Car Act was signed into law March 23, 2010. The primary goal of this act was to decrease barriers for obtaining health care coverage and allow Americans to access needed health care services (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). After the legislation is fully implemented in 2014, all Americans will be required to have health insurance through their employer, a public program such as Medicaid and/or Medicare or by purchasing insurance through the health insurance marketplace exchange (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). I will identify three parts of The Affordable Care Act that I believe are important. First, I will talk about the requirement that insurance companies are no longer able to deny coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions. Secondly, I will explain why physician payments are being shifted to value over volume. Lastly, I will discuss Medicaid expansion and why some states are not expanding at all.
One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.
Senator Scott Brown a Republican from Massachusetts stated that: “States shouldn 't be forced by the federal government to adopt a one-size-fits-all health care plan; each state 's health care needs are different”. Senator Brown has a very good point, the ACA healthcare program does not fit the differentiating needs of the different states, and each state has different factors that go into the roles of their healthcare programs. Thomas Miller, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute also has opposing viewpoints toward the relationship between the Affordable Care Act and state healthcare programs. “Miller says the ACA will undermine the development of free-market dynamics in the health insurance field and force states to accede to federal dictates. At first, he says, states may be able to shape their own insurance exchanges through which people purchase health coverage. But that is simply because Washington made certain “concessions” to the states to induce them to back the law, he says. Once the new health regime is deeply rooted, he predicts, “the long-term dynamics will very much have Washington in control rather than having open markets.”” (Clemmitt, Assessing the New Health Care
In 2010, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act in order to bring reform to the current healthcare system. The law was designed to provide healthcare coverage for people that did not have access to healthcare, improve the quality of the types of healthcare provided, and contain costs (HHS, 2014). Some of the features of the law are:
Health insurance, too many American citizens, is not an option. However, some citizens find it unnecessary. Working in the health care field, I witness the effects of uninsured patients on medical offices. Too often, I see a “self-pay” patient receive care from their doctor and then fail to pay for it. Altogether, their refusal to pay leaves the office at a loss of money and calls for patients to pay extra in covering for the cost of the care the uninsured patient received. One office visit does not seem like too big of an expense, but multiple patients failing to pay for the care they receive adds up. Imagine the hospital bills that patients fail to pay; health services in a hospital are double, sometimes triple, in price at a hospital. It is unfair that paying patients are responsible for covering these unpaid services. Luckily, the Affordable Care Act was passed on March 23, 2010, otherwise known as Obamacare. Obamacare is necessary in America because it calls for all citizens to be health insured, no worrying about pre-existing conditions, and free benefits for men and women’s health.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a federal that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 to systematically improve, reform, and structure the healthcare system. The ACA’s ultimate goal is to promote the health outcomes of an individual by reducing costs. Previously known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the ACA was established in order to increase the superiority, accessibility, and affordability of health insurance. President Obama has indicated the ACA is fully paid for and by staying under the original $900 billion dollar budget; it will be able to provide around 94% of Americans with coverage. In addition, the ACA has implemented that implemented that insurance companies can no longer deny c...
Taxes in relation to the new healthcare reform is a prominent topic when one examines the supporting and opposing sides of the law. New taxes on businesses producing medical equipment and new Medicare taxes on investments have been established. For individuals and businesses choosing not to participate in purchasing health insurance there will be a penalty called a "shared responsibility" tax. The accrued money from these taxes is being used, among other things, to provide low-cost insurance plans on the marketplace and to create subsidies for those purchasing the plans. Through these subsidies, "any individual making up to $45,960 or a family of four with household income up to $94,200 is eligible" ("Obamacare tax guide") to qualify and get assistance at the end of each year to off-set the cost of the insurance even more...
Less than a quarter of uninsured Americans believe the Affordable Care Act is a good idea. According to experts, more than 87 million Americans could lose their current health care plan under the Affordable Care Act. This seems to provide enough evidence that the Affordable Care Act is doing the exact opposite of what Democrats promised it would do. On the other hand, this law includes the largest health care tax cut in history for middle class families, helping to make insurance much more affordable for millions of families. The Affordable Care Act has been widely discussed and debated, but remains widely misunderstood.
ObamaCare, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is a Health care reform law that was signed on March 23, 2010. ObamaCare’s goal is to provide more Americans with affordable health care insurance. ObamaCare also hopes to improve the quality of healthcare and health insurance in America, regulate the healthcare industry, and reduce the cost of healthcare in the United States. ObamaCare is made up of ten titles; I: Quality, Affordable Healthcare for all United State Citizens, II: The Role of Public Programs, III: Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Healthcare, IV: Prevention of Chronic Disease and Improving Public Health, V: Healthcare Workforce, VI: Transparency and Program Integrity, VII: Improving Access to Innovative Medical Therapies, VIII: Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act (CLASS Act), IX: Revenue Provisions, and X: Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
“From the very beginning…. Obama’s message was not that the law would result in higher premiums, but better coverage. It was that the law would lower premiums, end of story” (Roy). Yet another promise has found itself broken after the ACA came into the sunlight of reality. “His $1 trillion in tax increases [hit] the middle class hard…” Mitt Romney said, “… in the health care system I envision, costs will be brought under control not because a board of bureaucrats decrees it but because everyone- providers, insurers, and patients –has incentives to do it” Unfortunately, that isn’t how it is. The nation is being forced into healthcare or being penalized for not joining the masses, because this plan will only work if there’s enough healthy people paying their newly doubled premiums regularly to help offset the expenses the unhealthy have right of the bat. “Back when Obamacare was being debated in Congress, Democrats claimed that it was right-wing nonsense that premiums would go up under Obamacare” (Roy). It’s now obvious that right-wing was headed in the right direction, and the middle class was
According to obamacare.com what this law is trying to do is to provide equity for all eligible American citizens concerning insurance rates. The idea is based upon the principle of the same rates despite of pre-existing conditions or sex. Not to forget to ensure that insurance companies will give coverage that is within new minimum standards for all applicants. Obamacare should make sure that, at the end of the day, all Americans have at least some health care coverage. Consumers are offered discounts, called tax credits, on health insurance plan sponsored by government and increasing the Medicauid assistan...
Everyone though out the United States is required to have some sort of health insurance since the enactment of the patient protection affordable care act that began in the beginning of 2014. The reform act basically states all individuals have to have some type of health insurance and if they fall to have the minimum required insurance then will face a tax penalty. However, with the way the law is written the information can be difficult to understand and even more difficult to determine what the impact will be if individuals fail to comply and obtain insurance (Suelzer). Although the coverage is mandatory there is a loophole in the act making some individuals exempt from being required to have health insurance. Individuals who have a religious belief, undocumented emigrants, incarcerated individuals, Indian tribe members, and families who have income that is below the taxable threshold all fall into the exempt status and are not required to have health insurance according to Marcia Richards Suelzer, MA, JD (Suelzer). My goal is to focus on health insurance showing it is not benefiting the people of the United States because of the extremely high costs.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 is Obama’s plan for affordable healthcare insurance coverage and improved access to care. (Davis) This will be a long process due to the political and practical obstacles, but will have an effect on everyone. The ACA will start to provide coverage at different times in each state, which will depend on where they live and which party controls their statehouse. At the moment, Massachusetts provides coverage to nearly all residents. Court’s decision to make the ACA’s Medicaid expansion voluntary and Republican states opposition, means coverage expansion will be slower.
In March 2010, under the Obama administration, the United States enacted major health-care reform. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 expands coverage to the majority of uninsured Americans, through: (a) subsidies aimed at lower-income individuals and families to purchase coverage, (b) a mandate that most Americans obtain insurance or face a penalty,