How Will Obamacare Affect You
Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, was signed into law on March 23, 2010. Since then, it has received heavy criticism from people on both sides of the political spectrum. Many of the politicians who signed it into office admit freely that they did not read over the thousands of pages of legal regulations. Here we will take a look at both how Obamacare will affect you, from the perspective of someone who isn’t a lawyer, tax professional, or medical practitioner.
PROS
1. Patients may no longer be denied for pre-existing conditions.
For as long as we have had insurance companies we have had denials. People who suffer from conditions that would otherwise immediately disqualify them from insurance, must be accepted.
2. There will no longer be a limit on how much money your insurance company will cover in a lifetime.
With previous medical insurance plans, there has been “fine print” stating that you have a lifetime coverage cap. Basically, you have insurance until you use X amount of money, then, the insurance company drops you. Under Obamacare, there is no lifetime limit.
3. Over 30 Million more Americans will be insured than before Obamacare was enacted.
Americans who have never had insurance, never felt the need for insurance, or never been able to afford insurance, will be guaranteed coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
4. Children will maintain coverage under their parents until 26.
This is great for you college kids out there. Under the previous system, many college age people who simply not have insurance because they could not afford it on a student’s salary of $0.
5. Theoretically, due to the high taxation of pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals, Obamacare will pay for itself
This had actually yet to be proven. The theory is, Obamacare will be paid for by the revenue of the 21 new taxes that affect mostly large business and the medical industry. ( I would like to state that although this is a huge selling point for Obamacare supporters, there are many holes in this theory.)
CONS
1. Obamacare will force many employers to reduce employees to part time status to avoid paying a fine.
Say you are an employer. You have just been mandated by the US Government that you have to pay the health insurance fees for all of your full time employees. What do you do? It’s simple. You stop giving them the necessary hours to be considered full time. This is called the Obamacare Employer Mandate.
2. Religious organizations such as a Christian hospital or a catholic school will be forced into paying for contraception, and abortion inducing medication.
This is called the Anti-Conscience Mandate and it's pretty outrageous. Whether you are a Christian, a member of another faith, or an Atheist, forcing religious entities to provide something that goes against everything they believe is wrong. If politicians can be exempt from Obamacare in its entirety, why can’t religious institutions be exempt from going against their teaching and beliefs?
3. Obamacare is in part funded by Medicare cuts totaling over $700 Billion.
In order to pay for part of itself, Obamacare will take over $700 Billion from Medicare. Now, this is hotly debated topic, with both sides claiming foul play. Supporter of the Affordable Care Act say that the money will be redirected and will not affect the care of seniors. Opponents of Obamacare say that it will in fact reduce healthcare for our nation’s seniors, and reduce the amount of medical institutions that accept Medicare. The politicians who are arguing this point can debate until they are blue in the face, the only way we will know for sure is to wait and see.
4. Obamacare gives the government complete control over doctor’s decisions.
Under the Affordable Care Act, countless new boards will be convened to control everything from cost of care, to doctor’s practices. This has led many physicians to leave the health care industry.
5. You will be forced, under penalty of tax, to sign up with Obamacare.
The severity of this point depends on how you look at it, but the bottom line is, you will be forced to pay. Obamacare forces you to pay insurance fees. If you cannot or do not pay for these fees, you will be forced to pay a penalty tax of up to $4700 a year, depending on your income level. For those of you at lower income brackets, the penalty tax may end up cheaper than the premiums for Obamacare.
So how will Obamacare affect you? That depends heavily on who you are and what your income level is. We know that you will be offered medical insurance regardless of background. We also know that you will end up paying quite a bit for it. If you choose not to sign up for Obamacare, you will be given a penalty, which may be cheaper than the premiusm themselves. Although to be completely honest, if Obamacare supporters really think it’s a good thing for Americans, then they probably shouldn’t have made themselves exempt.
