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Obamacare (Affordable Care Act)
Officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obamacare is the very controversial law that was signed by President Obama in 2010. Provisions of the act will start becoming active as of January 1, 2014.
257 Questions
It requires everyone in the United States to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty if they don't. This is the first time the government has required residents to purchase a product as part of being a resident of the country.
What was the senate vote when Obamacare passed?
The vote was 60-39-1, strictly along party lines (ie 60 Democrats, 39 Republicans). The "1" was Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) who was absent for family reasons and did not vote.
How has ACA changed healthcare in the US since implementation?
More people are insured, reducing the public cost of hospitalization for them. People with preexisting conditions can get insurance and there are no more lifetime caps. There is somewhat more bureaucracy, since records must become computerized and additional codes for actions taken by the health providers. One of the most important factors is that there is consumer protection -if you pay for insurance, the providers must meet certain standards of basic care.
What is the affordable care act about?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in 2010, aims to expand access to health insurance, improve the quality of care, and reduce healthcare costs in the United States. It introduced measures such as the establishment of health insurance marketplaces, Medicaid expansion, and mandates for individuals and businesses to obtain or provide health coverage. The ACA also includes provisions to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions and allows young adults to remain on their parents' insurance plans until age 26. Overall, the ACA seeks to increase the number of insured Americans and enhance the overall efficiency of the healthcare system.
Will obamacare cover you if you are unemployed?
Once again, "ObamaCare" is not some sort of insurance plan. It's a regulatory framework, combined with an expansion of Medicaid.
All the provisions of ObamaCare apply whether you are employed or not; if you are unemployed, your income will drop, so it will almost certainly change your options as to the cost of obtaining coverage. You (and possibly your family) may now qualify for either free (Medicaid) coverage, or subsidized coverage from the state-run Exchanges. Note that becoming unemployed is considered a "Qualifying Event", so a person who loses their job can immediately buy insurance off an Exchange, even if it is not during the normal Open Enrollment period of time.
Once again, all of this is based on your total household income, and not specifically if you are unemployed.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama care, was legally enacted into law by the US government. This legislation could also be repealed by the US government should it ever wish to do so. You, as an American citizen, have the right to vote for politicians who represent your views. So if you are opposed to Obama care, vote for people who are also opposed to Obama care. That is your option. There is no guarantee that the majority of American voters will agree with you. Many Americans believe that the Affordable Care Act is good for them.
Does your harris county gold card count under ObamaCare?
If you have a Harris County Gold Card in Texas, you are covered under Medicaid. This means that you do not have to sign up for Obamacare since you are exempt.
Why are the American people letting ObamaCare ruin the economy?
ObamaCare is not ruining the economy. The government shutdown, the sequester, and the threat of defaulting on the debt by refusing to raise the debt ceiling are ruining the economy.
Another answer:
Obamacare is causing many problems. Businesses are closing down because they cannot afford it, people's hours are being cut back, and the thing is showing to be difficult to implement. 60% of the American people want nothing to do with this act. It was supposed to lower health costs, but in fact costs are rising dramatically.
The government shutdown was not ruining anything .. We take in enough in taxes to pay our debt. The people that fought the good fight against him are to be appauded.
Can an illegal married to US citizen apply for obamacare?
No.
Illegal immigrants are not covered by the Obamacare law, and are neither subject to penalty for failure to obtain coverage, nor are eligible to purchase insurance from an Exchange (whether subsidized or not). They are also not eligible for Medicaid.
What are the objections to the new Affordable Care Act?
Firstly, many object to the cost. It is going to cost many times more than Obama said it would.
Second, Obama said many, many times you could keep your doctor and your plan.
Again, not true. Millions are having their plans cancelled, and are finding out the 2500 dollars a year in savings are ballooning into much higher premiums. However, Obama gave people a year to keep their plans to have more time to find new coverage. Many feel this was to bump the deadline past the next election, and many are complaining about this.
Third, implementation of this law is a complete and utter disaster. The site was nowhere near ready to go. People are finding it difficult to go online and sign up, and when they do, the "sticker shock" of the Obama plans are appalling.
To sum it up, this plan is a complete mess, full of lies and and exorbitant prices.
How does cobra participation affect ObamaCare?
Provided your employer's plan was ACA-compliant (and, as of 1 Jan 2014, it's required to be), if you participate in COBRA after being laid off, it is considered a valid option. Note that you do NOT qualify for any subsidy when using COBRA.
As such, I would expect that overall COBRA participation (i.e. the number of people opting to obtain coverage under the COBRA provisions) will drop significantly except amongst the well-off, as many people will be able to obtain equivalent insurance through the state Exchanges, and either opt for less-expansive (and less expensive) coverage, or qualify to receive a subsidy.
That is, the Exchanges offer virtually all the benefits of the COBRA law. The sole unique benefit of buying via COBRA is that your existing company-supplied plan may not be offered on the exchange, and you'd like to remain on that specific plan. Also, for people who do not qualify for subsidies on the exchanges, it is possible that their costs for insurance on COBRA may be slightly less than the equivalent plan on an Exchange (as the group-level coverage of large employers is still cheaper than that of individual plans from Exchanges).
How many pages are in the ObamaCare act?
The online version has about 900 pages. This probably looks like a large number, but it is actually typical-- many pieces of major congressional legislation contain hundreds of pages, along with footnotes and references.
ObamaCare isn't a plan you receive. You don't buy or "get" Obamacare. Rather, it is a significant change to the existing healthcare system in the USA.
In your case, you can qualify for Medicaid if you make less than the Federal Poverty Level in income, which for a single individual is about $12,000 (roughly $1000/month or $230/week). So, if your sole income is the $250/week unemployment check, you qualify for Medicaid.
Note that in about half the states, the qualification level is 133% of the FPL. And, of course, the FPL changes based on the number of people in your household (i.e. you, any spouse, and all dependents).
When did the American public actually vote on ObamaCare?
Their elected representatives in the House and Senate did that.
Can congress defund ObamaCare and over turn the supreme court law?
As a matter of law, Congress cannot strictly defund the ACA. As a functioning law, the ACA must be funded, though the degree to which it receives funds is given wide lattitude.
That is, Congress could pass a bill (and a President sign it) that removes all funding from all parts of the system required to make the ACA function. However, two things woudl still occur:
- The law would remain in force, so which the government aparatus directly supporting it's operation would not be funded, the law would still have a significant effect, and all sorts of enforcement and operations would be carried out by the relevant departments.
- A lawsuit would almost certainly result, and the Supreme Court would require at least a minimal amount of funding for the ACA. That is, the Supreme Court would force Congress and the President to at least make a basic effort to enforce and fund the law, as there is no question as to its validity (SCOUTS has priorly ruled that the law is Constitutional, and thus, must be enforced).
Second, there is no "Supreme Court Law" regarding the ACA. What the Supreme Court ruled was that the ACA itself was a legal use of Congressional Power.
Finally, the "Defund" attempts are nothing more than political stunts - that is, they are designed solely for media attention, and not any serious legislative work. No one would actually ever try to defund the system. Rather, if it became sufficiently unpopular (and a majority of Congress and the President agreed), then it would simply be REPEALED. As the different between defunding and repealing is virtually nill in terms of political requirements, defunding would never happen.
How do you know if you qualify for ObamaCare?
Since ObamaCare (officially the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA) is NOT some sort of insurance policy, you don't "qualify" for it in the sense of getting direct coverage.
Rather, it's a piece of legislation that changes the existing healthcare programs that the country already runs, both private and public ones.
So, if you are a legal resident of the United States (that includes both citizens and all foreigners here on a residency visa, but NOT illegal alien immigrants), you qualify to be covered by the provisions of the bill.
Since most people (roughly 85% of everyone prior to 2014) get their healthcare insurance through either a public program (Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, etc.) or provided by their employer, if you are one of those people, you won't see much change.
If you don't have insurance, and your family makes less than the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) in total income, everyone in the household now qualifies for FREE Medicaid insurance through the government.
In roughly half of the states, if your income is between 100 and 138% of the FPL, your state will enroll you in their Medicaid program for free, too. In the other states, well, your state government has decided to screw you. Sorry.
For those without any insurance and who don't qualify for the above Medicaid coverage (note, this does NOT include those who got screwed by their state, as above), you qualify to buy private healthcare insurance from a state-run Exchange (note that about 40% of the states have let the Federal government run theirs, but it works the same way). For those making between 139% and 400% of the FPL, they are entitled to a sliding amount of subsidy to buy this insurance. Also, if your employer does not provide insurance, they may also provide you with some level of subsidy to buy off the exchange.
And that, is the (not so) short saga of qualifying for ObamaCare.
