Affordable Care Act
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Abstract
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been a source of controversy for years. While many did not understand what The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act really entailed, it has become a lot clearer now. Many believe The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional while others believe it is exactly what the United States needs.
Introduction
The main problem the United States is having is the amount of uninsured consumers and the rising cost of healthcare. Presidents have been trying to enact some sort of healthcare reform for years, none of which has gone very far or done any good. The idea of having insurance coverage or all is a good idea on paper; however, at what cost are we implementing it.
Currently, Americans who cannot afford medical care often use the emergency room for services they cant afford. Using the emergency room for regular medical care significantly increases the overall cost of healthcare. By providing insurance options for everyone, it essentially lowers the amount of emergency room visits and increases patient preventative care. There are many cons to the “Obamacare”, including cost, individual rights and small business expenses.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will require every person to have insurance, regardless of financial status. While it is a good idea to offer insurance that everyone can afford, some people might not be able to afford insurance even under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In order or a patient to qualify for free insurance, or Medicaid, they must meet the current federal poverty levels, which is approximately $29,000 for a family of four. This means that any patient not meeting those requirements will be required to pay out of pocket for insurance. This does not necessarily solve the current healthcare problem we are having, especially since those who chose not to purchase insurance or cannot afford it will start be penalized commencing in 2014(Baker,P 2012). Penalties will start at 1% of the patients income and will increase to 2% in 2015 and 2.5% in 2016. Those patients who do not qualify for Medicaid will receive some sort of tax credit, but only if their income level is at least 400% below poverty levels, or $88,000 for a family of four. It is estimates that at least four million people will opt to pay the penalty as opposed to the insurance premiums, because they cannot afford health insurance premiums (Amadeo, K, n.d.).
It has been speculated that increasing healthcare coverage might in fact increase healthcare cost, as opposed to lowering it, as legislatures hoped it would do. This is because patients with healthcare coverage will now start using their medical coverage for testing and