Did this new plan address the need of the underserved community?
Many people felt that the Obamacare mandate forced them to pay more for health care with no added benefit. In actuality, it took benefits from those already with insurance coverage and require them to pay more in premiums and out of pocket.
Stop and think about what just happen to health care. If our government truly cared about our health - why would it burden down an already exhausted and over-taxed citizens with more debt? If you compare 2013 over 2016, you will clearly see the enormity of this health care burden that's being placed on you and me. I feel it - do you?
Also, know as the 'affordable health care plan' it was packaged and sold as the answer to our underserved
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It instead created mass confusion and alienated 49% of insured Americans leaving them wondering what just happened to their health plan. I've heard more four letter words out of ordinarily nice people's mouth than I've heard at a baseball game.
I'll be honest with you, I don't know how many Americans are dealing with this issue - but, I think that it's unfair. The system needs to be overhauled and it should start at the top.
There's no flexible option with this new plan! If you decide not to have coverage - the system will penalize you until you surrender. Some people reading this article might feel that I'm just ranting - I see it as standing up for justice. What did Bob Marley say "No, woman, no cry". I'm crying inside for this nation...my concerns are deep!
Is It Affordable Health Care?
At first glance, the plan appears to address the issue of affordability - the option to find out if you are eligible for sliding scale financial assistance to help reduce your monthly premium. Or you could qualify for FREE insurance through Medicaid. It’s all based on income for the elderly, families and children, and people with disabilities. This program differs from state to state. Under the new rules, you might qualify for this program even if you were disqualified in the
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This is without a doubt, bate and switch. We've been sold inferior health care coverage folks.
The Cost of Obamacare?
People had the option to choose the type of health care plan that suits their needs. The law was designed to allow consumers to make an intelligent decision after reviewing their options.This would give them control over their health care. But, if the insurance companies decide which plans to offer and how much they will cost - how are consumers in control? All plans must be approved by state insurance departments and certified by the Marketplace.
The Marketplace have a range of price and plans to choose from. Some plans have lower monthly premiums with high out-of-pocket care. Some plans have higher-premium plans for more cost of care coverage. If the Marketplace is your source for the best price in health care coverage - then we are at the mercy of the Insurance companies and the Federal
An individual mandate was established, making it a requirement to buy insurance or end up paying a penalty fee. This mandate was put into effect to keep healthy people from holding off on buying insurance until they were sick. This way insurers didn’t have to pay more money in the long run due to increase claims.
Through the provisions in this act citizens will be able to receive several benefits including: “the ban on discriminating against individuals with pre-existing conditions, government subsidies for individuals who cannot afford health care, an individual mandate requiring Americans to hold health care unless it violates their religious principles or is excessively expensive even after subsidies, a ban on lifetime limits on essential medical services, and insurance exchanges where citizens can pick amongst a variety of health plans offered by private insurers that must meet certain government criteria for quality and affordability” (Schimmel, 2). Even though this act was passed, it remains highly contested right with only five out of nine Supreme Court judges upholding its constitutionality (Schimmel,
I will compare the current health care system with the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that became law on March 23, 2010. The current system, which is being phased out between 2011 and 2018 is increasingly inaccessible to many poor and lower-middle-class people. About 47 million Americans lack health insurance, an increase of more than two million people from 2005 (Rover, 2011) the increasingly complex warfare between insurers and hospitals over who pays the bills is gobbling up a great deal of money and the end result is that the United States pays roughly twice as much per
On the webpage “Obamacare Facts” (2013) it had a video explaining how Obamacare worked. Obamacare has two purposes which are to cover more American citizens and add more benefits to American’s healthcare plans. Now this Affordable Care Act comes with “guaranteed coverage, essential benefits, premiums packages and new taxes” (2013). Since healthcare is required there is a punishment if you do not have it, which are penalties you will have to pay. Some people find it way easier for them to pay for the punishment then to actually have full coverage for health insurance. There are also benefits that come in the health care policy that someone was never planning to use or never going to use but they have no choice but to pay for it. The Affordable Care Act allows some monthly cost of insurance to go down for only some people for the rest their bills will increase. Now the reason their cost will increase and others will decrease is because of the federal subsidy. Federal subsidy will not reduce the cost for some American’s but hand their cost of insurance to others. (BCBSNC,
The Affordable Care Act is a law that was enacted on the 23rd of March 2010. Regardless of the fact that it was put into place in 2010, there are still numerous aspects of the law being debated today. The law has several provisions that are expected to take effect between the year of 2010 and 2020 (Reid, 2012). Among the significant reforms in the law includes a clause prohibiting insurers from refusing people coverage due to some preexisting conditions. In addition, these companies should offer the same price for all clients who are in the same geographical location and are the same age. Another reform was that families that are in the poverty line should receive federal subsidies if they decide to buy insurance through an exchange. The government also created minimum standards for insurance policies. The government also established health insurance exchanges as platforms for comparison of different policies. The Affordable Care Act also has an individual mandate
According to David Nather’s The New Health Care System: Everything You Need to Know, in 2009, 8% of premiums went to cover the uninsured (pg.38). To alleviate that problem, the Affordable Care Act created the individual mandate, which requires everyone to get health insurance. The idea is that the mandate will force healthy people to get insurance, which will then subsidize the sick and the old. If people do not get insurance, then they will pay a fine to the government. If you cannot afford health insurance then you can apply for an exemption. The new decree does not allow insurance companies to deny coverage and they cannot charge you more if you are sick. The law
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,
Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, some may argue that access to quality health care and services are easier to obtain. The law mandates that all citizens of the United States as well as those individuals who are non-citizens, but are legal residents, acquire health insurance coverage. In order for there to be minimal barriers to accessibility of health coverage, an online health insurance marketplace provides individuals with the option to shop for health insurance plans. The plans are categorized by the state in which the individual resides. The exchange allows individuals to review plan specifications. Additionally, the exchange provides coverage options through participating insurers through a tier system. The consumer is able to make a comparison of services covered in each tier, prescription costs, as well as premium costs associated with each health plan. From that, consumers have information about an array of detailed plan options and covered services in which to make an informed decision and purchase coverage that best suits their individual needs as well as the needs of their family.
For the first time in history, insurance companies will no longer be allowed to simply tell a person “no”. They will be required to offer coverage and accommodate regardless of a person’s health status, and they will not be able to jack up rates or drop any one from coverage when the main person in the insurance packet gets sick.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act establishes new requirements for health plans and insurers changed in order to expand access to affordable coverage, and prevent individuals from losing certain coverage. New coverage insurance market regulations will prevent health insurers from denying coverage to people for any reason, in which their health status, and charging people more based on their health status and gender. These new rules will also require that all new health plans provide extensive coverage that include at least a minimal set of services, caps annual out‐of‐pocket spending that does not impose cost‐sharing for preventive services, as well as no impose annual or lifetime limits on coverage. For example, new insurance market regulations within private insurances allow young adults are able to stay in their parents health insurance up to the age 26. Once an employee has reached age 26 they have to upgrade from their parents insurance plan to defendant coverage plan eliminating annual and lifetime limits on coverage such as rescissions and waiting periods within 90 days. Health insurers will be prohibiting from placing an age limit to their coverage in case of fraud. Large employer that offer coverage plans will have to automatically places employs in to a low cost premium plan if the employ sign up or exit out of coverage. Overall health plan premiums will be able to vary based on an age, geographic area tobacco
The Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare increases the quality, accessibility, and affordability of health insurance for all types of people with various financial status. In exchange, people who do not have an insurance would have to pay an additional fee for not having han insurance. This policy would make more people get an insurance and receive benefits as they grow old. This would ensure that it is not cheap for the people who are actually able to pay for their service. This law, stops insurance companies from dropping you when you are sick, protects against gender discrimination, expands free preventative services and health benefits, expands Medicaid, improves Medicare, requires larger employers to insure their employees. This would ensure equality for all patients are patients would not be abandoned when they are severely sick or not able to pay for their treatment. This also creates a marketplace for subsidized insurance providing tens of millions individuals, families, and small businesses with free or low-cost health insurance, and
There have been government programs in the past which have also attempted to make healthcare more accessible and affordable. Two such prominent programs are Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare provides health care coverage to the elderly, while Medicaid provides coverage to the poor. They were endorsed by President Johnson. However, even with the implementation of Medicare and Medicaid, which were enacted in 1965, there are many who are still uninsured (“Affordable Care Act”) . One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act was to help such individuals receive health care coverage. While attempting to garner support for the law, many of its advocates, including President Obama, also promised that those who already had coverage they were content would be able to keep it.
A less-known consequence of this mandate, one that is rarely mentioned in the public or media discussions on the plan is “individual mandate”, the requirement that each person must either purchase insurance coverage or pay an “uninsured tax” as a penalty for not maintaining health coverage. The law actually fines those who choose to not to carry any kind of insurance for every month not insured in the form of an added tax, and the amount of that tax is growing annually. In 2014, the rate was about $95 per adult and $50 per child per year. For a family of four that is $290 a year just in an extra tax. “The fee increases each year until it ends up being about the price of getting the cheapest health plan”. For example, in 2015 the rates will jump drastically to $325 per adult and $162 per child per year (Obamacare
Before the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the statistics reported that over 50 million people in the US had no health insurance. In 2010, the long awaited healthcare reform was passed and many efforts were made to reduce the percentage of uninsured. The enrollment in the Medicare services was extended, millions of low-income individuals were eligible to be enrolled in Medicaid coverage, lifetime dollar limits were eliminated, insurance were no longer able to refuse coverage due to existing conditions. Since 2010, multiple provisions were enacted to improve quality and increase access to health care. One of the biggest changes that came into effect in 2014, was the “individual mandate”, a provision that requires all legal citizens to acquire health insurance under the tax penalty. Since 2015,
“ObamaCare contains many benefits, especially for low and middle income families and business” (“ObamaCare: Pros and Cons”). Many people have been having concerns on the cost of the insurance because it has raised in cost. There is a new law out there that President Barack Obama passed called ObamaCare. ObamaCare is also known to be The Affordable Care Act (ACA). The goal of this act was to make sure every American had health insurance by January 2014. ObamaCare went from being something good, to a controversial issue towards Americans. This topic is very debatable in positive and negative ways, it just all depends on how it effects someone. One of ObamaCare’s requirements were to have companies provide health insurance to people