On March 23, 2010 President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Since then, the bill has been one of the most debated issues in recent history. Is this Act good for business? Is this Act Constitutional?
Jason Sweatt, a certified public accountant at Elliot Davis states, “The Act has tax impact, directly or indirectly, on every American. This impact will unfold over the next seven to 10 years and we all need to pay attention so we don’t get hit with unexpected cost.” This Act immediately affects small businesses dramatically. The new law focuses on employers with more than 50 employees. Due to that, small businesses will need to exert a significant amount of time and energy to learn and correct them to comply with the requirements. This can be extremely costly. This law is costly to large businesses as well. If you have more than 50 employees you have to offer coverage or be subject to a fine.
One of the largest taxes that the PPACA enacts is on health insurance, prescription drugs, and on medical devices. What this causes is for premiums as well as prices to rise sharply. What this does is put a new burden on businesses. Hospitals and doctors will struggle until they get to a much larger size. “The plan is a 40 excise tax as on higher premium plans. This would make the premium cost go somewhat upward and will make actually make the insurance premiums rise.” (South Carolina Business) “Up to six years ago, more than half of the United States Medical practices were owned by certified doctors. It is estimated that at some point next year, almost two thirds will be salaried employees of larger institutions. This is caused directly from the new law.” (Wall Street Journal) Brian Margargl...
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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.
The leadership’s decision not to expand Medicaid leaves between 300,000 and 400,000 South Carolinians without health insurance (South Carolina Medical Association, 2012). The stated intent of the Affordable Care Act, pejoratively dubbed “Obamacare” by its critics, was to put affordable health care within reach of more of the 40 million Americans who lacked health insurance. The law’s grand design included an assumption that states would expand their Medicaid programs, since the federal government would pay 100 percent of the expansion costs through 2016, and 90 percent thereafter. But in demonstrating its traditional mistrust of Washington’s promises, Columbia declined the offer and, in the process, left thousands of low-income workers without the means to obtain health coverage, either because they cannot afford the premiums or because their employers do not provide it. (Advisory Committee, 2013). Ironically, in a state where the median annual income is $44,600, South Carolina’s working poor earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid; however, they would be covered under the ACA model (Hailsmaier and Blasé, 2010).
Moncrieff, A. R. (2013). The Individual Mandate as HealthCare Regulation: What the Obama Administration Should Have Said in NFIB Sebelius. America Journal of Law & Medicine,39, 539-572.
Sever misinterpretation of the legislation distorted public opinion. Many people did not understand the impact that the ACA would have on employers and the coverage that they would be mandated to supply. Companies who employee greater than 50 employees are required to make coverage available and contribute to the cost or pay a fee; however, they qualify for the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) and are given tax breaks to help defray the cost (Reisman, 2015). Based on Reisman’s research, employers who have greater than 50 but fewer than 100 employees can obtain coverage for employees through state-based insurance exchanges and those who employee less than 25 full-time employees also qualify for tax breaks to help with costs. Another common misconception was that the ACA would afford illegal immigrants the opportunity to have healthcare. The ACA law excludes undocumented immigrants from these new coverage options and offers reduced benefits for those legally present (Shaffer, 2013). There are some parts of the Affordable Care Act that are hard to understand or conceptualize. One example understanding how the ACA will save health care dollars in the long run when it will significantly increase healthcare spending during
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:
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In the early years of 2009 to 2010 the political process pushed health care through legislation led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Health care and government, 2013). This process was extraordinarily tiring, as many defenders of the bills passing were present. Many congressional members “dug their heels in”, and wanted to slow down the process even more as confusion about the bill was posed (Health care and government, 2013). Despite opposition by many sides of the American people, a Democrat-dominated House of Representatives passed the bill and the Affordable Care Act was signed into action on March 21, 2010 (Hogberg, 2013). Indeed, all three branches of government were instrumental with the passing the Affordable Care Act into place.
The author identifies some of the federal and state legislators that are also opposed to the Medicaid expansion in the writer’s district. US Senator John Cornyn says that the Obamacare Medicaid expansion program is formed to be wasteful, fraudulent, and abusive to the nation (Cornyn, 2010). According to US Senator Cornyn, “The $3.4 trillion federal taxpayers spend on the Medicaid program is a target for waste, fraud, and abuse. Instead of fixing these problems, the President’s new health care overhaul includes the largest expansion of the broken Medicaid program since its creation in 1965: it’s only going to get worse from here” (John Cornyn, 2010).
Within the previous four years, the number of uninsured Americans has jumped to forty five million people. Beginning in the 1980’s, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has been trying to fix this problem of health insurance coverage for everyone with a basic reform. The AAFP’s plan imagined every American with insured coverage for necessary improved services that fall between the crucial health benefits and the surprising costs. (Sweeney) They expect by fostering prevention, and early prevention, with early diagnosis with treatment, the program would result in decreased health system costs and increased productivity through healthier lives. The way to achieve health care coverage for all is pretty simple. This country needs the United States congress to act out legislation assuring essential health care coverage for all.
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...
The Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, is a new health policy created by the American federal government. Its purpose is to make healthcare more affordable and friendly for the people. Unfortunately in some way that does not prove to be the case. It is becoming apparent that Obama may have made some misleading statements to help get the ACA put into action. The ACA is sprinkled with many flaws that call for a reform such as people’s current plans being terminated, high costs, and at minimum some people’s hours being cut by their employers.
The Affordable Care Act has been at the center of political debate within the United States for the since current President Barack Obama signed it into law in 2010. The act represents the most significant regulatory healthcare overhaul of the United States healthcare system since the passage of both Medicaid and Medicare collectively Initially, the ACA was enacted with the goals of increasing the availability of affordable health insurance, lowering the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance and reducing cost of healthcare for individuals and the government (Robert, 2012). Proponents of the act’s passage have articulated that the ACA provides service for free, such as preventative health coverage for those registered, it requires that insurance companies can no longer deny person’s or children with pre-existing conditions and will close the Medicare “Donut Hole” for prescription drugs. While the Act has the potential to provide better quality of healthcare for the American populace, opponents argue that the ACA is flawed and could create a quagmire of cost and confusion with its implementation. Arguments against it hold the belief that it would force employers with religious affiliation to provide services to employees through their health plans that directly contradict their values. As a result of cost, companies may void out of their employer health insurance and pay a penalty as opposed to pay for employee insurance. Lastly, the act is said to focus more on registration the actually addressing cost of healthcare. While these issues are pertinent, the overall accessibility to healthcare created by the ACA and outweighs the negating arguments.
Many people have different opinions about the Affordable Care Act, but overall it is a good idea for America as a whole. Many Americans already like this health care reform. It will benefit many people and, in conclusion, is constitutional.
The question of what is the government’s role in regulating healthy and unhealthy behavior is one that would probably spark a debate every time. Originally, the role was to assist in regulating and ensure those that were unable to afford or obtain healthcare insurance for various reasons would be eligible for medical care. However, now it seems that politicians are not really concerned about what’s best for the citizens but woul...