Does Anybody Know Anything About "Obamacare"? (NOT a Debate)

You mean "The Affordable Care Act"? :)

Here's an article (blog) that really breaks it down in an easy to understand format.

http://healthvsmedicine.blogspot.com/2012/03/health-care-...

HTH!

"A government big enough to supply you with everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson

I know that Europe has a healthcare program like Obamacare and they are having financial problems because of that and other things. I know the Canadians have something similar to Obamacare and their citizens would come to America to see doctors because their system doesn't work. I know that I have read several articles that came out of England where patients needing critical care (organ transplants, cancer screening and care died before they could be helped because their version of Obamacare rationed that kind of health care.

I know one of the new taxes to pay for Obamacare that will go into effect beginning in 2013 will be a sales tax on all realestate transactions. I have read what it was, but I only remember that it was 3% or 3.5%. And I have lived long enough to know that once a new tax is put on the books, the politicians will raise it over and over again so they can spend more and more and more. Example: The income tax as we know it was declared unconstitutional. So the politicians told the public that they would never tax anyone making less than $100,000 per year (This was in 1912 dollars!!!). They passed the income tax ammendment to the constitution. Because the average American was making less than $2500 a year they felt safe and protected. Any one out there making less than $100,000 per year that pays federal income tax? That is why the real estate tax is so dangerous.

Good luck to you and yours.

The few things I do know about the new health care reform (I really hate the way it is called Obamacare) is that my sons cannot be denied insurance for preexisting conditions. In 2014, no one will be denied coverage for health care insurance due to preexisting conditions. A friend of mine who had leukemia at the age of 5, cancer free ever since and is now 53, will be able to buy insurance even if a bit higher rate. She currently does not have any insurance and does not qualify for medicaid because she works but her emploer does not offer. She hopes she has no major issues in the near future. The one thing I disagree with but understand why it is in there is the requirement for all to purchase insurance and all employers to offer. It is unfair to the small employers since they would not get the big breaks that larger employers are able to get for insurance packages and for low income, how are they going to pay for it? But on the flip side, the idea is that all buy so that the cost is low enough to cover those that cannot afford it. There are always going to be pieces that no one likes.

I am worried about coverage and my sons obtaining coverage when they are working adults due to preexisting conditions. The idea that they will not have the medication they will need to prevent an internal bleed because they cannot afford it......

I do not know the full scope and am waiting for the final word. Crossing my fingers things work out.

If you search for "Obamacare" you'll get anti-Obama propaganda. If you search for "patient protection and affordable care act" you'll get actual information. Granted, much of that information is from the government, but it will at least tell you the facts about what health care reform does and does not do. I found this summary to be pretty straightforward:

http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8061.pdf

FWIW. whenever I read here about people who have health issues who can't get them addressed because they have no insurance and can't afford to see a doctor, I thank God that I live in a state with mandated health insurance. There was a sad post recently by a woman who has debilitating IBS that is keeping her from being employed, putting stress on her marriage and making it hard to be a good parent. Something manageable like IBS shouldn't ruin someone's life, and she shouldn't have to divorce her husband and go on welfare to try to get insurance so that she can see a doctor and get treatment that will give her her life back. I hope that health care reform helps families like this one.

I just want to say thank you to the people who actually stuck to the posters goal of getting factual information on what will be changing. I appreciated the factual links because this has been a confusing and much misunderstood issue.

Ahhh ''Obamacare''....That thing we are all supposed to be afraid of....yet no one can give me an honest answer as to why!

Here is the thing.......Everyone is mad about the Mandate which states you have to have some type of coverage or pay a penalty for not carrying any....Which pretty much still leaves you responsible for your healthcare costs...much as we are seeing today still.

Although I dont not agree with the Mandate, what we dont realize is that we have mandates on alot of stuff we do in our daily lives......Auto Insurance being on of those things....Where do you hear anyone complaining about that??It is just insurance for your car that you HAVE to have or you will suffer by costly tickets or accidents you are then left to pay for....Out of pocket.

No one is saying you have to have the mandated insurance....Pay the penalty much like a ticket and you are good to stay as uninsured as you would like to stay.

I have family that lives in Europe(France to be exact).....And my cousin can not believe we are still having this fight. in fact alot of Europe can not believe we are still having this fight...They see our Healthcare system as an aging dinosaur........Especially given we have the resources and ability to get everyone in to a doctor.

Obamacare does not go far enough in my opinion. We need an even bigger over haul for it already and it is not even totally in working order yet.

I think the Media is causing alot of the information mess....Either they want people to hate it....or see the benefit of constantly questioning it to keep viewers....

I swear to you once it is going and in place there will be a giant sigh of relief for many Americans who can now go see a doctor for the very basic of needs...Like Well Checks.

I can say honestly as one of those Americans who needs insurance plus a visit to the doctor for a well Check....I can not wait for it all to be a go....Mandate and all at this point. It beats the NOTHING I have now.

Good for you for trying to get the information right on a very confusing issue:)

One of the first things I found out in practice was the markets were already opened for preexisting conditions. One of our part time employees said she couldn't wait since she has no insurance and preexisting conditions. So she didn't sign up because it was still cheaper to go to the hospital and not pay her bills. Thing that they missed there was even if health care is affordable free is still more affordable.

My other favorite in practice is the having your kids on your plan till they are 26. In a nod to the insurance company they also made it that if your employer offers insurance you are not allowed to stay on your parents plan even if it is more expensive for you. So say junior works but it is a crappy job that makes him pay 600 a month for his insurance and you have a great policy that already covers him because it is covering your three other kids. Tough nuggies, he has to pay the 600 or he isn't insured.

I think that is what bothers me so much about Obamacare. It was written by lobbyists to protect their interests not ours. As it goes into effect that becomes more obvious. Why do you think it took so long to pass, they had to keep milking that cash cow and writing it all in.

So far as I have read, and no, I didn't not read it all, there is nothing in it that will actually control costs.

Thank you, Dad on purpose!
Great explanation!

Thanks Dad on Purpose.

There is only one thing I want to add.

Illegal immigrants will not have to have insurance, of course, and they won't pay a fine and they will continue to use our emergency rooms for routine healh care because that's all that is available to them. So there is a large portion of the population who will not be subject to Obamacare and who will continue to drain taxpayers pocket books!

I'd say kudos to Cheryl O. if she managed to read the entire thing. I don't know of anyone else who actually has... it's too long. Even the politicians passing it didn't know what it said or what was in it. Remember Pelosi's famous quote: "We'll have to pass it to find out what is in it."
Frightening.

A lot of the moms here don't know either, just like you, N.. I have decided to stop trying to follow it until the Supreme Court makes their decision later this month. That way I won't have to work so hard to remember what "was" and what "is".

(Kind of like how I felt about studying the different presidential candidates who I wouldn't be voting in a primary for...)

Maybe it would be easier for you to find something about it after the ruling too...

Dawn

I love the way you phrased this question!

Here's what I know for sure. The Affordable Care Act:

Mandates that insurance companies cannot deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions. Whether you have terminal cancer or whether you've never been sick a day in your life, you can still buy insurance for yourself and your family.

Allows young adults (up to age 26) to remain on their parents' insurance.

Mandates that employers, even tiny mom & pop shops, have to offer their employees coverage. To my knowledge, there's no provision to make this coverage affordable -- something I really don't like.

Mandates that individuals who do not get insurance through their employers or family members have to purchase it. There will be aid to make this insurance affordable, but it will probably take some kind of a bite out of their pockets. I can see the logic behind this, but I still think there would have been better (and more politically palatable) ways to provide insurance for all Americans.

That's pretty much it, as far as I know. There are aspects of the bill I like and aspects I don't like, but I agree with you: I think it's important to base anything (a critique or a defense) on the facts.

And, after all that, I'm curious: What is it that your friends don't like about the bill? Could be the same things I don't like, could be a completely different set of issues -- I'd love to know.

Good job Dad on Purpose that explains the different options and how it
works. However, the devil is in the details. I do not think anyone out there
knows, what will be covered what will not be. Will care be given in a timely
fashion. How about seniors? There are so many unknowns. What about
a child born with a devastating illness that they life expectancy is 1 year, just saying. Will insurance cover or heck since they will die soon, why
provide care. I know it is over the top, but really, who knows what is in the bill.

Now about pre-existing conditions. Just about every insurance company I
looked at with my daughter, covered pre existing conditions after a six
to 12 month wait. To me that is reasonable. And this was quite a while ago.
Would your insurance be more, yes. It will be with the new insurance too,
so I do not understand the big thing about
finally pre existing illnesses will be covered.

From what I have heard and, of course, who knows if it is true, that the board that will be approving or not approving procedures, are not physicians but lay people. Now that is scarey.

So in the end, I do not think anyone knows what is in that bill.

I do believe that a humane medical care program does not make us a socialistic society. I thin that medical care should be free for everyone. That docs should not be making millions of dollars per year at the cost of pain and suffering of others.

I wish that the plan had been implemented differently.

This is what I would do if the job of providing care for Americans was my responsibly.

I would take money and funnel it to free clinics and make them raise their income guidelines to include the poorest of Americans all the way up to the middle class. These are the people who are suffering from lack of medical care. They do with out routine medical exams that could save their lives, they do without medical treatments, medicines, being able to go to the docs office if they don't feel well.

They make too much money to get a state medical card but don't make enough to afford insurance through any employer they may have. They don't get dental care so they have rotted broken teeth that keeps them from getting jobs, they don't have good food since all the programs for low income families were cut, they can't hold down jobs because they are sick too often.

The poor and lower middle income families can't afford Obama-care. They would have to give up groceries, or quite their jobs because they can't afford to buy gasoline to get there, they cannot pay for any kind of insurance, his program is help for the higher income people, again, not the poorer people.

I still have to use the ER as my docs. They get tired of people coming in that have illnesses that regular docs should be seeing them for. They can't take care of critical patients due to the waiting rooms being full of people with sore throats and fevers, that should have made an appointment with their general doc.

He has not helped poor Americans at all. The program will help higher income families I guess. But it has not helped me or anyone I know.

I believe we should work towards having a universal humane medical treatment program that is for everyone and is free. That way we all receive the care we need and no one is left to die due to not having any money to spend at the docs office/

I don’t know much about it, but I do know that it didn’t accomplish what I expected it to do, which was to lower prices by having a public option available.
I’m an Obama supporter but I think he fell short on this one. He got a big accomplishment by making sure that people with previous medical conditions are able to get insurance, but prices are too high for many of us to get insurance and I don’t know how we will manage if we end up having to buy it, when the cost issue hasn’t been addressed; my only hope is that if all of us must have it, the cost will go down, but I’m not counting on it. In my opinion, only having a public option would’ve accomplished lowering costs in the industry.
All that being said, I think repealing it will be catastrophic for people with previous conditions and many children. IMO it’s not perfect, but it’s better than what we currently have.