The Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare, has gradually taken effect over the past few years.
In October, 2013, the government launched their healthcare website at healthcare.gov so now Americans can shop there for health insurance. Many people can find low-cost health plans through the website, but a change in the law in 2012 created a coverage gap that’s leaving many people still unable to afford insurance.
Going without insurance can be particularly difficult for people who rely on prescription medications to stay healthy.
The ACA originally included a mandate requiring every American household to have some kind of health insurance, be it through an employer, private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. The law also included provisions to help people with the cost of healthcare.
Individuals or families in middle class income brackets could apply through the government’s health exchange website and receive financial aid in the form of a tax credit that can be automatically attached to their monthly insurance premium. People in lower income brackets who did not qualify for the tax credit would be covered by their state’s Medicaid plan. To ensure this, the original Obamacare law, as passed, required that all 50 states expand Medicaid as necessary to make sure that everyone who didn’t qualify for the tax credit was covered.
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A new report from the Congressional Budget Office predicts the ACA would have a “substantially larger” impact on the labor market than it had previously expected: The law would reduce the workforce in 2021 by the equivalent of 2.3 million full-time workers, well more than the 800,000 originally anticipated.
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A health care overhaul plan released Monday by three Senate Republicans may reveal how the party will handle the issue for the 2014 elections and beyond. The proposal would not change the long-standing practice of allowing employers to fully deduct the cost of providing health insurance. However, it would do away with Obamacare’s individual mandate, as well as its requirement that insurers offer coverage to everyone regardless of pre-existing health conditions.
Watch the short video below on the debate over the Republican Study Committee’s plan to replace Obamacare:
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According to demographics data from the latest Department of Health and Human Services report, of the 2.2million people who chose insurance plans over the federal and state exchanges, only 24% were between the ages of 18 and 34. Once the deadline for enrollment ends on March 31st this could have consequences on consumers who could face higher insurance rates in 2015, according to experts.
The higher insurance rates would come about from insurance companies failing to find sufficient young and healthy people willing to offset the costs of covering older and sicker Americans. It’s not clear yet how the final breakdown of the people who buy insurance will impact rates. Some insurers may have set rates with a more pessimistic outlook, expecting a smaller share of young people to sign up for coverage, while other insurers may have expected a larger share of young adults to sign up.
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, is going to change the way we perceive healthcare. Many Americans are confused about how it will work, and findings from a new Stanford University survey demonstrate that while Americans have a vague understanding of the health reform law’s specifics, most remain uncertain about what ACA’s specific provisions actually do.
As the open enrollment period draws near, you may be wondering how it affects you or what you need to do. Or you may simply want to understand more about the law that’s dominating the news. In this blog entry I will demystify the important aspects of the law in an attempt to shed some light on how it affects you and your family.
What if I already have health insurance? ACA mostly affects Americans who don’t already have health insurance. If you already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, or Medicaid, nothing about that will change. If you're self employed and you buy your insurance on the individual market, you might want to compare your current plan to the new plans being offered on ACA’s marketplaces.
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