"This law won't solve all the problems in our healthcare system.
We know we've got more work to do."
Obamacare also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the controversial
health care plan in the United States signed into law back in 2010, since then it has been
plagued with issues.
The most obvious being how difficult it is to understand.
So I'm going to explain it, as simply as I can, look at the costs, the pros and cons
and the arguments against it.
Here we go.
Healthcare in the US is notoriously expensive, unlike over here in the UK where we have the
NHS which is publicly funded, in the US it is entirely privatized.
If you want to get a pacemaker that's going to cost you around 20 thousand dollars, skin
grafting 12 thousand dollars and it can even set you back 10 thousand dollars to get your
arm amputated.
If you're interested you can check out more pricings in the Healthcare Bluebook over here.
So what are you meant to do if you get sick?
How are you meant to handle all the costs?
Well supposedly, Obamacare is here to sort you out.
The plan.
To expand affordable health insurance to more Americans.
The reality.
Confusion.
In 2013, around 44 million Americans went without health insurance, that's 16% of the
population.
If you're not part of an insurance plan that covers the whole family or your workplace
doesn't cover you, you may qualify for Medicaid which covers those with low income or Medicare
for those over 65.
BUT, if you don't fall under any of these.
Even with Obamacare around, you will still have to buy it yourself and that can prove
very expensive.
If someone can't afford healthcare and ends up in hospital, the hospital has to raise
healthcare costs for everyone in order to cover it, Obamacare wants to make sure everyone
is covered one way or another.
So what's happened so far?
As of April 2014, 8 million people have signed up and if you didn't enrol in Obamacare by
March 31 2014 you're going to get taxed about 1% of your 2014 income and that tax goes up
every year you don't get yourself covered.
Although you can avoid the pay per month fee for three consecutive months of a year, thanks
to a loophole.
To get covered you have to find your plan in the insurance exchanges available online,
although the website didn't even work for the first month or so after launch.
You can check that out on the link on the screen now.
Obamacare have brought in something new, all plans must now provide ten essential health
benefits which are; outpatient care so your doctor's office trips, hospice care, then
emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health services and
addiction treatment, prescription drugs, rehabilitative services and devices, laboratory services,
preventive services and pediatric services -- although these of course vary in scope
and quantity.
Why would you want to pay for all these?
Well in previous plans to keep premiums down you'd pay money for years paying for plans
that may not cover what you need.
In this one everyone's grouped together in a single risk pool which means men are covered
the same as women, sick the same as healthy and you never know when you're going to benefit
from it.
Although if you're in a grandfathered plan meaning one bought before March 23 2010 then
no paying for essentials, but no benefiting from them either.
What does it mean for those covered by their company?
Well employees may lose their plans if the company they work for decides it's cheaper
to pay the penalties and let the employees work it out for themselves.
Any company with 100 or more employees must provide health insurance by 2015 or get taxed
$2,000 per employee bar the first 30.
Businesses with 50-99 employees have until Jan 2016.
And what about Medicaid?
Obamacare aims to allow more people to get it with lowered income boundaries.
Individuals on 15,281 or less get it, a family of four on less than 31,321,50 get it too.
And even if you don't get that you could get yourself tax credits if you're on less than
45,960 or 94,200 for a family of four.
Most people don't think the Federal government should force people to get insurance so why
do the Federal government think it's a good idea?
Well if everyone was insured, they'd go to the doctor when they were sick rather than
waiting for it to turn into an expensive medical emergency.
Across the board this should reduce the costs for everyone.
Medicare will help people stay medicated rather than reach hospital over and over again and
with people paying the premiums whether male or female, poor or healthy, everyone pays
to separate costs.
So to lay it out, here's the pros and cons of Obamacare.
Act covers those who previously didn't have insurance and would end up in the ER racking
up costs for everyone.
Covers 10 essential health benefits.
Federal government will help you out with Medicaid
Tax credits available.
Insurance companies can't drop you if you get sick or have pre-existing conditions.
Parents can put their children on their plans until they're 26.
People with existing health insurance can keep it.
Doesn't apply to businesses with less than 50 employees.
Saving 143 billion over next 10 years.
Cons: 30.1 million people have private health insurance
plans.
Many of these have had them cancelled because they don't meet 10 essential health benefits.
Between 3-5 million people will lose their company sponsored plans because companies
would rather pay the penalties then sign up to Obamacare.
Increased coverage may actually raise overall health care costs in the short term, with
free preventive care and testing being given out that could mean higher medical spending.
Taxed more and more each year you don't purchase insurance or qualify for Medicaid.
About 4 million people will end up paying the tax rather than insurance.
Pharamaceutical companies will pay an extra 84.8 billion dollars in fees over the next
ten years to close the donut hole in Medicare Part D.
But, how much will it cost YOU?
Well it depends on the plan category you choose.
There's bronze with the lowest premiums paying 60% of healthcare costs, silver at 70, gold
at 80 and platinum at 90%.
That's at its simplest form, but of course it is never that simple.
It depends on all the benefits and deductibles, your age, where you live and your income.
Up to 82% of nearly 16 million uninsured young U.S adults will qualify for cost assistance
or Medicaid through ObamaCare's marketplaces.
But a lot of people, namely the Republicans, want to repeal it.
It even led to a government shutdown for 17 days and according to a national survey by
the Pew Research Centre between feb 27th and march 16th -- 53% disapproved of the law thinking
it's too liberal or doesn't go far enough.
Dr. Ben Carson, the republican presidential hopeful has even compared ObamaCare... to
slavery.
That seems pretty extreme.
Obama says under the law; insurance has grown, the growth of healthcare costs has fallen,
hundreds of millions of Americans who already have insurance now have new benefits and protections
and no one with a pre-existing health condition can be denied coverage.
The reform has a timeline spanning 2010-2022, we'll see how it all turns out.