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A little controversy is always fun, right? Today, I would like to veer away from the technicalities of complex diseases and conditions to delve into what is commonly referred to as "Obamacare"-the Affordable Health Care Act. I often hear my peers, adults, and talk show hosts become tremendously flustered over this issue, but really, what is it? The Affordable Health Care Act will be fully implemented into United States law by January of 2014. As many people know, under this legislation every man, woman and child will be obligated to have paid health care. Health care will thus be extended to several million Americans who currently do not have it. Essentially-no matter your opinion on whether this is right or wrong--Americans will be subsidizing the health care of other Americans. Young people will assist financially in covering the old, and vice versa. However, one of the intricacies of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) is the fact that a family may have to pay more with the new taxes and benefits-but they may also receive a federal subsidy based on personal factors to offset some of this additional cost. Your premiums will be determined by three factors: age, how many people in your family will be included in the plan, and where you live. Many people are concerned that young or impoverished citizens who do not have enough resources to buy healthcare will be coerced into paying money they don't have. If a person is under the legal line of poverty, about $15,800, they will qualify for Medicaid benefits. Furthermore, there is a plan known as "catastrophic" coverage, which features low premiums with the disadvantage that the plan will only cover extreme medical emergencies. While there are fines imposed for not paying coverage, some people with low household incomes may be exempt from these.
Some provisions of the ACA are as follows: a person can stay on their parents' health care plan until they are 26 years of age; a person cannot be denied healthcare because of their pre-existing medical conditions; business owners are obligated to offer healthcare for all full time employees of their establishment, provided they employ more than 50 people. Employers may be offered tax credit for extending health benefits to their workers. Furthermore, health care programs previously were allowed to impose lifetime caps, meaning that after a certain amount of money was paid for healthcare costs, the costs would no longer be covered by insurance. This is no longer legally permitted under the ACA. A person cannot be dropped from their health care plan for any reason other than fraud. Now, for those who already have health insurance under Medicare, they are allowed to keep this, but the ACA provides what some may see as an added benefit. Under the current Medicare system, there is a temporary limit on coverage for prescription drug costs. This is expected to be eliminated by the year 2020 under the provisions of the ACA.
After ranting about the intricacies of the act, I'd like to leave you with some interesting statistics, which you can take as you will. Gallup recently conducted polls attempting to gauge how Americans felt about Obamacare. (Cue my knowledge acquired from AP Statistics class!) Questions were worded differently in the different runs of polling. They are as follows: 1- "Next, we'd like to ask you about the Affordable Care Act, the law President Obama signed in 2010 that restructured the U.S. healthcare system. Do you generally approve or disapprove of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Obama that restructured the U.S. healthcare system?" 2- "Next, we'd like to ask you about the 2010 healthcare law that restructured the U.S. healthcare system. Do you generally approve or disapprove of the healthcare law?" 3- "Next, we'd like to ask you about "Obamacare," the 2010 law that restructured the U.S. healthcare system. Do you generally approve or disapprove of Obamacare?" 4- "Next, we'd like to ask you about the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law that restructured the U.S. healthcare system. Do you generally approve or disapprove of the Affordable Care Act?" In the question where just "Obamacare" was referenced, 38% of respondents said they approved. In question 3, where neither the ACA nor Obama was mentioned, 41% approved; this number held steady when both Obama and the ACA were mentioned. Interestingly enough, when the ACA was mentioned with no mention of Obama, 45% of people claimed to approve. Despite my summary, I'm aware that people still have questions, concerns, and opinions on "Obamacare"/the ACA. I would love to hear these perspectives voiced in the comments section below!!
Sources:
USA Today: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/exp/usat-obama-aca-20/index.html
Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association North Carolina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o84Xz3_BQjc#t=244
Gallup Polls: http://pollingmatters.gallup.com
