Healthcare: The Patient Protection and Affordable Act
Jennefer Paddock
POL 201
Thomas Arndt
October 26, 2013

Healthcare: The Patient Protection and Affordable Act The Patient Protection and Affordable Act, also known as Obamacare, was signed into law by President Obama in March 2010. It has been the most significant overhaul in the United States healthcare since Medicare and Medicaid. The Patient Protection and Affordable Act affirms the core principal that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care. Obamacare is aimed at helping the underinsured obtain insurance when they do not have insurance. Under Obamacare, everyone would have health insurance regardless of income or anything that would prohibit the person from attaining health insurance. Health insurance will be extended by expanding Medicaid and by providing federal subsidies to help lower and middle class citizens buy private coverage. Although health insurance will be extended, Obamacare raises issues of federalism, Obamacare has advantages and disadvantages, and Obamacare is not consistent with federal policy. Federalism facilitates the problem solving synergies that arise between the separate strengths of local and national governance for dealing with different parts of inter-jurisdictional problems. Obamacare raises issues of federalism because some say that mandated healthcare can be considered unconstitutional. Some view the fact that the government telling the citizens they have to have insurance goes against the Constitution. Under Obamacare, the government requires citizens to buy healthcare from private companies in order from having to pay annual penalties. According to Roger Vinson, congress must operate within the bounds established by the Constitution and the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared