Obamacare : An Imperfect Fix

Health care has been a controversial topic of discussion for all Americans since it was put in effect many years ago. Currently the biggest debate of Healthcare up to date is Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is a Health care Reform that is a governmental attempt to make basic health care easily obtainable. However, there are no benefits without cost in situations like this, and upon that are different viewpoints on the subject thus creating political debates discussing if it is ethically correct. The overall goal that Obamacare hopes to accomplish is that through specific changes through insurance companies, industry standards, and patient guarantees a healthier America will be produced. Obamacare has its ups and downs for both the generally agreeing democratic viewpoints and the opposing republican side. Both viewpoints have their own beliefs about how Health care works and Obamacare is somewhat in between on this. Most arguments on Obamacare deal with Medicaid being constitutional and if Obamacare truly reduces the total cost of health care for individuals and in the government.

The goal of this paper is to explain the downfalls of Obamacare and share the stories of individuals affected negatively and directly by the approval of the policy. Although Obamacare set out with good intentions, many people are still left without health care coverage because of the constant revisions of the bill. There have been many taxes raised for the approval of this policy, and has caused problems for individuals who do not want coverage under Obamacare but would want coverage under a different company. Obamacare has helped some, but has caused other problems that would make it a bill that should be up for repeal.

The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, was passed in March 2010. This over-1000-page Act implements a number of reforms designed to increase the availability of health care for individuals. The Act created a Health Insurance Marketplace, a universal way to sign up for subsidized health care plans (which are cheaper), though you can only get certain plans from certain places, including an expanded Medicaid. It also creates an incentive to purchase health insurance-if you don 't, you 'll have to pay a fine, which is interpreted by many as a tax. Additionally, the Affordable Care Act requires sizable firms to provide a certain level of health care to all of their employees, with certain specifications. Obamacare also attempts to make health care cheaper for many, by trying to even out the cost for everyone.

In today’s day and age, American households can all agree that health insurance is not a luxury, but a necessity. Without it, costs of emergency room visits and prescription medicines can be financially devastating. However, in the past many families and individuals have taken the risk of not being insured due to the high cost of the insurance itself. To attempt to reform this unfair system, the Obama administration signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010. The law, coined “Obamacare,” has received much opposition due to its expansion government programs and increase in spending. It brings to question how much the government should be involved in an area that for the majority of America’s history, has been

Since the early days of our nation, our founding fathers thrived for change. At the peak of his election campaign, Barack Obama promised the change the country had been longing for. He promised a health care reform and new benefits. Many presidents elected after the signing of Roosevelt’s New Deal had tried to achieve health care reform but ultimately none succeeded. Obama promised change; his change came under the name of the Affordable Care Act, a bill that was filled with empty promises. The Affordable Care Act, nicknamed “Obamacare” was supposed to benefit all Americans but instead of helping our nation's citizens, it burdened them. It burdened them with higher taxes, less hours of work, and higher costs

Questions are constantly circulating around the new Affordable Care Act. Many do not know what it does and the government is trying to make it out to be a big savior to the medical field for doctors and patients alike. The Affordable Care Act has also been given the name Obamacare because of its ties to the President. He believes that increasing the amount of people on insurances of any kind that meets his “standards” will help health care become more available and more profitable. Unfortunately, these claims are not true as Obamacare is clearly going to negatively impact health care in all aspects. The problems start for patients who get on government healthcare programs, such as Medicaid, with the fact that the treatment plans are extremely

As more provisions of the affordable care act continue to be implemented many find controversy ineffectiveness of the new health plan. On an annual basis the correlation seems to grow more positive on one end, and more negative on the other. Since the start of (2014), the approval percentage of the Affordable Care Act has increased from 10% to 16%, while the percentage saying it has hurt them has also gone up, and by a similar amount, from 19% to 27% (Riffkin, 2014). Overall 41% Americans approve of the affordable care act in comparison to 53% of Americans that disapprove. The complexity of the changes really affects populations differently based on their income levels. The 2010 Affordable Health Care Act passed through congress has

On March 23, 2010 former president, Barack Obama, signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and made it a law. As many of us know, there are minimal issues with Obama Care, but the question to be posed would be, ‘are there enough systematic errors for it to be repealed?’ Obama did promise that if you agreed with the plan, you could keep it. Of course, there is always room for improvement, and Obama care is not an obstacle nor a negative force towards anything or anyone. There is no reason the ACA should not be diverted or limited in any way. There are pros and cons to everything, but regarding this situation, it is seen to have more pros. The ACA (Obama Care) has made many alterations since it has been in effect. Due to the inadequate reasoning

Through successful implementation millions of Americans would benefit from the imposition of health insurance through the ACA. The law intended to cover the poorest Americans under the Medicaid expansion option and to cover low and middle-income earners with new health insurance exchanges. However, in June 2012, the Supreme Court overruled a portion of this landmark victory by giving each state the option to forego the Medicaid expansion provision. The Court’s ruling creates a breach in the ACA’s potential to afford healthcare to the working poor and abandons those who do not quite qualify for market place subsidies. Consequently, a large segment of the United States population will remain uninsured due to the lack of affordability.

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

The Obama Presidency is known for many things: two wars, economy crashes, government shutdowns and, yes, the infamous Obamacare. Throughout the last six years, President Obama’s agenda was set towards passing a major healthcare reform bill: The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare. Passed on March 23, 2010 under considerable opposition, ACA is widely considered to be the landmark achievement of Obama’s presidency, and his hopeful legacy for historians long afterward. The law has since survived multiple challenges regarding its legality, but its impact on the intended (original) goal of reducing medical costs is still unclear. Affordable healthcare for all

Before the 23rd of March 2010 having health insurance was optional for all Americans. On March 23rd of 2010 Obama’s health care reforms timeline began. The health care reform is also called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for short. The affordable care act should “provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending…” (Healthcare). Obama’s new health care plan is forcing all Americans to get health insurance and those who don’t get health insurance will be penalized when filing taxes. The health care reform has now taken full effect on the people of the United States, so we have citizens who are excited about the reform, and we also have citizens who are upset about the reform.

Currently, “Premiums in 31 states are expected to rise by double digits, while two states will see decreases in 2017 from this year. Premiums in one state — Arizona — are estimated to more than double” (Herron, 1). This means that the cheap alternative that Obamacare once promised may not be available in the coming months. This increase in many states will affect the general population. Unfortunately, these rises could potentially make Obamacare out of reach for low income families. While this price increase doesn’t affect people who receive health care from their jobs, it is hypothesized that it will affect those who are the most ill. “That means that the sickest patients are most likely to be squeezed. They’ll either have to suffer the inconvenience of switching all their doctors and records around, or they’ll have to stomach the biggest increases” (Ableson, 2). This belief is the core of the Republicans argument because not only has Obamacare proved to be relatively inefficient is is shown to likely become a negative force for those who truly need it. If those who truly need it aren’t getting enough coverage now, what happens when the Act is

“20 million people have gained coverage under Obamacare” (Obamacare Facts, 3) although there are over 300 million people in the United States of America as of 2014. The cost of Obamacare is a “$1.1 trillion dollar fee… considered a shared responsibility and such mandate that every nonexempt American citizen pays for Obamacare through taxes” (Obamacare Facts, 3). This means that a shared fee increases each year after 2014. This cost enlarges Medicaid to 38% of the federal poverty, administering this insurance to adults without children for the first time. Adults can add their children to age 26 but lifetime and annual limits on insurance are

There are Currently 32 million people without health insurance in the United States. This means that roughly 83 per cent of citizens have to live day by day hoping they won’t get sick. For this reason, President Obama signed the U.S health reform bill into law. The health reform will make health care more affordable for citizens. Employers with more than 50 employees will be forced to provide coverage for all, or they will have to pay a fine. It will also make health insures more responsible. For example, health insurance carriers are forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions, and from canceling policies because someone gets sick. It will also expand