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Pros And Cons Of Affordable Care Act

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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is legislation enacted by the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. The Affordable Care Act is often referred to as Obamacare since it is linked to President Obama. Though the law has been challenged by many points of government the United States Supreme Court made a final decision to uphold the healthcare law on June 28,2012. The law is divided into ten sections, over 20,000 pages, with supplementary regulations to come in the future. Examining the key features, coverage, cost, and impact can give the general synopsis of the law. There are many pros and cons of the law that contrast greatly amongst citizens of the United States.
The key features of the Affordable Care …show more content…
Health coverage for young adult has been extended to the age of 26 under a parental policy.
• Coverage of pre-existing conditions. Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurers can no longer deny coverage due to a pre-existing condition or a condition that was present before the insurance policy was in place.
• Coverage ceiling mostly eliminated. Lifetime and most annual coverage ceiling costs are eliminated.
• States now have the choice to opt-in or opt-out of the Medicaid expansion legislation un the ACA. The United States Supreme Court ruled that if the states elect to opt-out of the expansion, they will not be denied or have funds reduced for their Medicaid programs. For the states that decide to opt-in the federal government provides a subsidy to pay at 100% for related costs, in the first three years, then the subsidy pays at 90% until the year 2020.
• Medicaid benefits are upgraded to include numerous preventative screenings e.g. colonoscopy, mammograms, immunizations …show more content…
This key feature of the Affordable Care Act, requires health insurers to make available a uniform, user-friendly, and easy to understand summary of coverage for not only enrollees, but applicants as well. This feature was additional to the criticisms that Healthcare insurance information was too complex for the average consumer to comprehend.
• Employer Health Coverage feature allowed employees who liked their plan thru their employers to keep their plan, but if the employee didn’t like the coverage the employer provided the employee could now opt-out and shop for a plan with the Affordable Care Act.
• An Individual Mandate for Healthcare was put into place. This mandate excludes individuals that are enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, or employer based health coverage. The mandate should an individual not have acquired health insurance would have to pay a unique tax on their federal tax return.
• States with extended Medicaid benefits programs, would allow persons whom earned income is below $44,680 and under the age of 65 to be eligible for a subsidy to help pay for their insurance cost. The persons may also be eligible for a tax credit refund for purchasing their healthcare through the

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