The health insurance exchange is not working. The premiums of the insurance plans offered on Covered California have increased by 25% leaving me with no affordable options. When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was first implemented, there were months of advertisements about the advantages of Covered California, California’s state run health insurance exchange. The health insurance exchange is a purchasing pool that was supposed to increase access to affordable health insurance and allow buyers like me to compare the benefits and prices of plans. However, many insurance companies are pulling out of the exchange because they are losing money, and in many states, purchasers can only choose from one or two insurance companies on the individual health insurance marketplace (“Number of Issuers Participating in the Individual Health Insurance Marketplaces”). The dwindling amount of insurers taking part in the exchange is causing a decrease in competition and contributing to rising premium costs. As a purchaser on the insurance exchange, I am no longer able to afford my insurance plan that I have bought on Covered California and I am demanding a change. I demand the addition of a public option. With the ACA, I finally thought I would be able to purchase affordable health insurance. I do not receive health insurance from my job because I am self-employed, and I do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. Buying insurance on Covered California is my only option for
In 2010, the United States created The Affordable Care Act (ACA). The objective was to share the responsibility of costs between the government, individuals, and employers to provide affordable access to quality health insurance. “However, health coverage remains fragmented, with numerous private and public sources, as well as wide gaps in insured rates across the U.S. population.” (“United States: International Health Care System Profiles,” n.d.). Each individual state within the US, generally has control over private insurance.
The ACA (Affordable Care Act) is mostly for people who are not insured, or who are self-insured and feel that they can get a better price on insurance. However, this does not concern you, if you are currently receiving health insurance from your job or from a government assistance program like the VA or Medicare.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most current governmental effort to bring a national health care plan to the United States (U.S.). Policy makers in the U.S. are hopeful the ACA will be able to extend health care coverage to 47 million nonelderly uninsured citizens (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2014). The ACA broadens the Medicaid eligibility for low income individuals at or below the 138% Federal Poverty Line (FPL) and adds tax credits to assist people to purchase insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). In 2012, the Supreme Court the upheld the constitutionality of the ACA requiring most people to maintain a minimum level of health insurance, however they left the
The ACA has Americans searching for a health insurance company, however, not everyone can afford one. This makes it an issue on whether it is possible to enforce such statute if insurance is not accessible for all. The solution brought about with Obamacare was the creation of subsidies. The first form of cost assistance is the use of premium tax credits which lowers premiums. Just as Medicaid, tax credits depend upon income in which the lower your income the lower the percentage you will have to pay towards health
One of the most important reasons for passing the ACA was to make health insurance more accessible and affordable. In North Carolina, approximately 1.7 million nonelderly people were uninsured in 2009, but the ACA requires expansion of coverage to uninsured individuals by extending Medicaid coverage to more low-income adults, which in turn, strengthens the employer-based health insurance system, and making it easier and more affordable for the majority of people to buy private coverage (Silberman et al., 2011). According to Silberman et al. (2011), the North Carolina Division of Medical Assistance
Understanding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can be problematic, the goal of the ACA is to address the fact that millions of Americans do not have health insurance, yet they are contributors to the health care market, consuming health care services for which they do not pay. While this may seem to be a great idea, many Americans are not really sure how they are affected by this Health Care Reform. The goal is to make health insurance affordable, secure, and reliable for all. The ACA is a minimum coverage provision, individuals are given health insurance by amending the tax code. There is an individual mandate which stipulates all non-exempt individuals must maintain a minimum level of insurance or pay a tax penalty. ACA extends Medicaid, states have to accept or they will not receive Federal funding. The act also includes an employer mandate to obtain health coverage for employees. The Affordable Care Act has changed the way health care is provided and the way individuals will participate (The Affordable Care Act Cases. (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2015)
The Affordable Care Act, in its time, has helped many uninsured Americans to obtain health insurance by giving them guaranteed coverage. About 20 million Americans, based on the statistics from the New York Times’s article titled “Fact Check: Trump’s Critiques of the Affordable Care Act.”, have obtained health insurance through the ACA. Dropping the uninsured rate to 11 percent by 2013 (Qiu 2017). Americans, through the ACA, were able to get health insurance even if they got sick, which inevitably happens to many. This put insurers in a place where they cannot deny coverage to people who have preexisting conditions, or their health history. Other main points that are included in Former President Obama’s Affordable Care Act is that one, it was given as an individual mandate that all U.S. Citizens and legal residents must enroll for qualifying health care or get penalized for not signing up for insurance at all. Making the fact that getting health care is mandatory is a good way to lower the insured rates and save many Americans money when the next unexpected hospital visits or illnesses come up. Another thing is that the ACA has also expanded medicaid to all non-Medicaid eligible individuals that are under the age 65 and making medicaid more federal funded based rather than a state issue. Thus helping those who could not afford
In 2010 President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. ACA is pivotal legislation that had rippling effects throughout the healthcare system. The Affordable Care Act was drafted with the sole intention of expanding healthcare access across the country. Under the ACA, Americans are now mandated to purchase health insurance or face a penalty. Americans without insurance are able to get coverage by purchasing through the insurance exchange or by qualifying for Medicaid. The poverty level was raised for Medicaid and new provisions allowed single men to also qualify. Anyone that does not qualify for Medicaid would need to purchase a plan on the insurance exchange and various subsidies are available based on income level.
It has been six years since the Affordable Care Act has been implemented into the United States healthcare system. As the pieces and provisions of this monumental federal statute become understood and executed, it is transforming the demand for care. Prior to the ACA, a significant number of Americans were marginalized and unable to obtain coverage. This system was faced increasing healthcare costs, placing greater financial strain to everyday Americans, businesses, and public health insurance systems. The ACA did not only help ensure health coverage for all (almost
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was created by President Obama back in March 2010 to help reduce healthcare costs and improve healthcare quality for uninsured Americans. The ACA was implemented to reduce the cost that was growing with Medicare and Medicaid because they have increased over the years threatening the entire federal budget (Amadeo, 2017). People who are not working and are unable to cover their healthcare expenses usually end up on Medicaid which is paid for by the government. The others who are over the age of 65 are on Medicare and have their premiums supported by the federal government. However, people who make too much money or who are too young to qualify for either
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) extended healthcare coverage to millions of formerly uninsured individuals by expanding eligibility of Medicaid and the formation of Health Insurance Marketplaces. The ACA also included reforms to assist individuals sustain coverage and have the availability of affordable and accessible private healthcare insurance. Analysis from 2014 and early 2015 and have shown significant increases in public and private healthcare insurance coverage and have attributed the remarkable decreases of the rates of uninsured individuals from marketplace.gov and health insurance exchanges from the first year the ACA had healthcare coverage available.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was officially signed into legislation in March 2010. The ACA was a major step in achieving a system of universal healthcare, which essentially means all citizens are provided with healthcare and financial protection. In the 1960’s America introduced the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which helped guarantee some type of medical insurance cover for the very poor (Medicaid) and elderly (Medicare). Even though programs like these assisted in covering the most vulnerable groups of people, many Americans still did not have healthcare insurance. The goal of the ACA reform is to ensure that all Americans are covered by some form of health insurance. The ACA promises healthcare access to
17.1% of Americans who did not have coverage prior to the ACA will have access to quality affordable health insurance through their State's health insurance marketplace, or the expansion of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (Sommers, Kenney, & Epstein, 2013). Furthermore, there is also a mandate for employers to advance access to work based coverage.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as ObamaCare, is a healthcare reform law that focus on providing more Americans with access to affordable health insurance. “The ACA is expected to add 32 million people seeking primary and preventive service and treatment” (journalofnursingregulation.com). It was first enacted by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The act has offered a number of people with benefits, set up a place they can purchase health insurance, expanded the use of Medicaid and Medicare to the disabled and senior citizens. The Act has forced many employers to offer coverage to their employees. Despite all of the positive attributes this act has provided, there is a flip side to it. Americans are required to have health
The Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) has been a hot topic of discussion since it was signed into law by the President in March 2010. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the primary upshot of this act was to provide health benefits and access to health insurance to millions of uninsured under the new law. A study conducted by the Commonwealth Fund was released in 2013 identifying 60 percent of the population aged 19-29 did not seek medical care because of cost. Since its acceptance by the Supreme Court to uphold the new law, millions of the formerly uninsured residents can now purse necessary medical treatment when desired.