ObamaCare Essay Do you know what ObamaCare? If not you will know anyways because I will be explaining to you what exactly ObamaCare is. ObamaCare is a health reform law that was passed by our current president Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. It was passed in an effort that more Americans would have healthcare and would be able to afford it. In order to apply for ObamaCare the person must be an American citizen. ObamaCare has not really affected Americans in any form because most American stayed with the health provider they already had. However, for those people who actually decided to get Obamacare where most likely the ones who have Pre-existing conditions. For example, children with heart diseases or anything similar to that like if they were born with birth defects. ObamaCare provides coverage for that unlike other healthcare insurances. ObamaCare can’t deny coverage to any American no matter what health issue they have. Before the ObamaCare reform was put into place insurance companies would take advantage of people. If the person got ill or injured for any particular reason insurance companies would/can make an excuse that the person had an error in the paperwork therefore the insurance company can’t be held accountable for covering that persons bills. Insurance companies would also discriminate against people of any age with Pre-existing conditions because they didn’t want to have to pay for their medications which most likely are expensive. the care was also very limited. Something that insurance companies would do often was take advantage of people since most people to this day aren’t very knowledgeable with the laws of insurance companies and don’t really pay much attention to it. It makes me angry ... ... middle of paper ... ...rly physicals and be assured that nothing is wrong with them. Bibliography 1.) Unknown, 05/17/2014. “Health Care That Works For Americans”. http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview#consumer-rights 2.) Unknown, 05/18/2014. “Medicare Program”. http://www.benefits.gov/benefits/benefit-details/598 3.) Unknown, 05/22/2014. “How does the health care law protect me?”. https://www.healthcare.gov/how-does-the-health-care-law-protect-me/ 4.) Steven Brill, 04/04/2013. “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us”. http://time.com/198/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/ 5.) Unknown, 10/09/2013. “Fact Check: Did President Obama exempt members of Congress from Obamacare? http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/09/fact-check-did-president-obama-exempt-members-of-congress-from-obamacare/
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 process of choosing a health insurance provider should have been more consumer friendly. People
Just mention the word "Obamacare" and a heated debate will start right away. The legal name of Obamacare is "the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA" (Tate 1). The law has over 2500 pages and many have not read the entire law (Tate 12). Democrat Nancy Pelosi made an infamous remark back in 2010 stating "that Congress '[has] to pass the bill so you can find out what's in it'".(Roff). This law was signed in March of 2010 and has a 54% disapproval rating among Americans today (Amadeo).
The individual mandate and the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare”, is the idea that citizens should be required to have health insurance or otherwise pay a certain penalty. The Affordable Care Act essentially is the ability for all Americans to be able to afford health insurance. “One goal of the ACA, often referred to as the Affordable Care Act…is to bring down the costs of health care and make it available to more people.” (Will the Affordable Care Act improve health care in the United States?). The ACA was signed into law in March 2010 and currently ongoing.
Whether we are in favor or opposed to the Affordable Care Act, it is important that we consider how it affects us and the world surrounding us. First of all, I find useful to mention what the Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare) is and how it differs from any other healthcare acts. The Affordable Care Act provides Americans with health security by putting in place health insurance reforms that are supposed to expand coverage, hold insurance companies accountable, guarantee more choices to choose from, lower healthcare costs, and eventually enhance the quality of care for all Americans. It differs from other healthcare insurances because patients with pre-existing conditions can now be eligible to receive treatment and prevention of further illness.
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:
Obama Care, as most would call it, was passed by the United States Senate, approved by the House of Representatives, and signed into law by the President of The United States (Health care and government, 2013). The lives of many individuals were changed by this initiation as all three branches played a role in the passing into law.
Before Obamacare was passed, millions of Americans were uninsured, suffered and died prematurely each year since lack of health insurance. Insurance companies could deny any one for pre-existing illnesses or drop them when they get sick, or stop treating them when they touched annual or life-time perimeters. Over 60% of bankruptcies were associated to medical expenses, several of these people had insurance. Insurance companies had no limits on raising premiums. Preventative measures and wellness visits were not covered adequately (Mowrey, 2013).
If the United States had unlimited funds, the appropriate response to such a high number of mentally ill Americans should naturally be to provide universal coverage that doesn’t discriminate between healthcare and mental healthcare. The United States doesn’t have unlimited funds to provide universal healthcare at this point, but the country does have the ability to stop coverage discrimination. A quarter of the 15.7 million Americans who received mental health care listed themselves as the main payer for the services, according to one survey that looked at those services from 2005 to 2009. 3 Separate research from the same agency found 45 percent of those not receiving mental health care listing cost as a barrier.3 President Obama and the advisors who helped construct The Affordable Care Act recognized the problem that confronts the mentally ill. Mental healthcare had to be more affordable and different measures had to be taken to help patients recover. Although The Affordable Care Act doesn’t provide mentally ill patients will universal coverage, the act has made substantial changes to the options available to them.
One of the most egregious examples of insures finding loopholes is in Melissa Morelli’s story. According to the New York Times, a 13 year old girl named Melissa Morelli was “taken to the hospital, she was suicidal and cutting herself”, her mother says (Abelson). She was transferred to a psychiatric hospital and stayed there for more than a week. Her doctors told her mother that it was not safe for her to return home but the problem was is that her insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross, wouldn’t continue to pay for her to stay in the hospital. Her mother, Cathy Morelli, kept on trying to get them to agree to pay for her daughter’s treatment, but they wouldn’t agree. “It was revolving doors”, Ms. Morelli said (Ibid). She has been constantly going to her insurance company for over 5 months just to hear them reject to pay for the care...
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.
Our healthcare system has developed into a burden for most people and has terrible consequences for others. It consists of everyone paying for healthcare as a whole, instead of people paying for themselves. This system of healthcare has burdened the people who take care of themselves and have money, but extends the life of people who do not take care of themselves and live in poverty. This is not pleasant for the one’s who decided to go to school and make well over minimum wage. In turn, they are the individuals who end up paying for the people who decided to make bad decisions in their life that put them in the minimum wage position. Clearly, laws regulate the insurance companies but these regulations do not make any sense to many. Balko explains that, “More and m...
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.
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,
We are the wealthiest country yet we don’t have free universal health coverage. The insurance companies are attempting to manage cost through price controls and we’re still having to pay out of pocket for a lot of the expenses. Personally I think that The Obama Care (and the Affordable Care Act) will have little to no effect on me until maybe later in life because the insurance I have works great for me. I do have to meet my deductible every year, and it depends on which doctor I go to if I have a copay or