The Affordable Healthcare Act AKA Obamacare

Ok we are at this point again where we are inundated with the talks of appealing the Affordable Healthcare Act well known as Obamacare.

As on Jan 2014 everyone has to have healthcare or they can be assess a fee.

Is this a good thing?

Well, yes.  It insures millions of Americans that would normally go without healthcare.  Remember he won his second election by a landslide, which if you followed my blog you would have seen that I predicted that, but I digress.

I can remember a day when I didn't have healthcare, mainly because it was too expensive.  The HMO's had their way, now keep in mind that the HMO's are nothing more then middlemen charging exorbitant fees for services that they in dire cases will not cover.  As a working American without health insurance I could only hope I never needed treatment or a hospital visit which would have left me in ruins.

There is always talk of Health Reform, which is what the Affordable Healthcare Act originally was until he was forced to pass a striped down version.  So what do we get with this new striped down version?

Here's a list:

• Prohibiting health insurers from refusing coverage based on patients' medical histories
• Prohibiting health insurers from charging different rates based on patients' medical histories or gender
• Repeal of insurance companies' exemption from anti-trust laws
• Establishing minimum standards for qualified health benefit plans
• Requiring most employers to provide coverage for their workers or pay a surtax on the workers wage up to 8%
• Restrictions on abortion coverage in any insurance plans for which federal funds are used
• An expansion of Medicaid to include more low-income Americans by increasing Medicaid eligibility limits to 133% of the Federal Poverty Level and by covering adults without dependents as long as either or any segment doesn't fall under the narrow exceptions outlined by various clauses throughout the proposal
• A subsidy to low- and middle-income Americans to help buy insurance
• A central health insurance exchange where the public can compare policies and rates
• Allowing insurors to continue to dictate limits on evaluation and care provided consumers by their physicians ("managed" or "rationed" care)
• Avoidance of capitating or regulating premiums which are routinely and in accordance with this law, charged by an insurance company for coverage, which might make the coverage non-affordable with regard to a consumer's income
• Requiring most Americans to carry or obtain qualifying health insurance coverage or face a fine for non-compliance.
• A 5.4% surtax on individuals whose adjusted gross income exceeds $500,000 ($1 million for married couples filing joint returns)
• A 2.5% excise tax on medical devices
• Reductions in projected spending on Medicare of $400 billion over a ten-year period
• Inclusion of language originally proposed in the Tax Equity for Domestic Partner and Health Plan Beneficiaries Act
• Inclusion of language originally proposed in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act Amendments of 2009.
• Imposing a $2,500 limit on contributions to flexible spending accounts (FSAs), which allow for payment of health costs with pre-tax funds, to pay for a portion of health care reform costs.

Now what is bad about those points?

Forcing the insurers to cover people that pay them.  Stopping the insurers from charging whatever they want for a procedure.  Allowing people to shop around for better rates - I figure women will  love that one.  Requiring most companies to contribute less they they already do for their employees, keep in mind that about 35% to 40% of the companies do not contribute a dime to their employees healthcare.

In most cases the low income people are families are already cover by federally subsidized insurance so it's really geared towards the shrinking middle class, but that will not be a problem soon as the middle class slips into oblivion.

The only real problem with the Affordable Healthcare Act is that as of Jan 2014 it will be in place enough to dispel all the rumours.  Americans love it enough to re-elect the person that is in charge of the most ineffective Congress in our short history as a country.  Something needs to be done soon or no on can say, "The only thing that he pushed for as a President didn't make it!"

Well I'm a Veteran so good luck everyone else.