Obamacare or commonly called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is really and truly The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). President Obama signed the law on March 23, 2010. The law is very controversial and is the largest overhaul of the United States healthcare system since Medicare and Medicaid laws came into existence in 1965 under Lyndon B Johnson.
Obamacare was passed to improve the quality and affordability of health insurance coverage. The law aims to lower the uninsured rate by introducing subsidies and the Health Insurance Marketplace. The law did away with declining people due to current health status and insurance companies are required to cover all preexisting conditions. The ACA projected that overall insurance rates would decrease, but has yet to be seen.
One added cost to the ACA is that hospitals and primary physicians have transformed their practices with technology that is supposed to aid in better health outcomes. The technology is to help Americans have better accessibility to the expected cost of their healthcare.
Is Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act Working?
In the case of King vs. Burwell, the Supreme Court confirmed that the ACA subsidies would be available in all states. However, in 2015 much of the ACA bailout provision was de-funded. Insurance companies were expecting $2.7 billion in bailout money but only 360 million was available. This led a dozen government funded co-ops to go bankrupt, including Louisianan, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Tennessee to name a few.
In late 2015 the largest health insurance companies in America announced the possibility of a billion dollar loss on health insurance plans being offered to individuals and families. This announcement set off a chain reaction in the industry and now most individual health insurance carriers are avoiding the marketplace and state based exchanges and are now focusing on alternative health insurance options.
The only thing certain at this time is Obamacare will see a face lift in coming years. It is yet to be known if Obamacare will survive or not in coming years. All Americans can expect some growing pains as the US healthcare system continues to develop.