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Affordable Care Act Research Paper

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On September 17, 2009, President Barack Obama proposed a new plan for healthcare, known as the Affordable Care Act, and on March 23, 2010, the new plan was signed into law, making health insurance a requirement (United States Department of Health and Human Services). The Affordable Care Act was proposed with the intent to lower the costs of health care, making it more available to everyone. The law also aims to improve coverage and prohibit insurance companies from dropping customers or denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions. The Affordable Care Act requires almost every U.S. citizen to either seek coverage or pay a fine. The law expands Medicaid in an effort to help the uninsured become insured as well. At first, …show more content…

The idea of affordable healthcare for everyone was exciting to them. However, it did not take very long for people to realize that the promises that had been made were not completely honest.
Before Obama proposed the Affordable Care Act, he stated, "No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period. No one will take it away. No matter what. My view is that health care reform should be guided by a simple principle: fix what’s broken and build on what works.” (Barack H. Obama Address to the annual meeting of the American Medical Association, June 15, 2009). Now that the act has been passed, however, this is not the case. If you had a non-grandfathered plan (enrolled after March 23, 2010) that met the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, you were able to keep it. You were also able to keep your plan if it was grandfathered in (enrolled on or …show more content…

This is where Congress’ power to tax comes in. Article 1 Section 8 of the US Constitution states that, “the Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imports, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States”. Although it is not upheld that Congress can use its power to require that everyone buy health insurance, it was agreed on by majority vote that the penalty imposed on those who do not buy a healthcare plan is a tax that Congress can impose by using its power to tax. With this, it is understandable that while Obama cannot make anyone buy insurance, he can penalize them for it in the form of a tax. According to the U.S. government, since the Affordable Care Act was passed, 16.4 million Americans have gained health insurance. However, 13% of adult Americans still lack coverage (Patient’s Rights Council). Many people are actually choosing to pay the tax rather than spend a large amount of money for insurance that they do not want, but there is another problem with that option. Although the tax is only $95 (or 1% of the family income, whichever is greater) after a year of having not enrolled in a healthcare plan, the penalty rises to $325 (or 2% the family income) the next year and $695

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