Obamacare is an informal term given for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The act passed by the Obama administration succeeded in providing health insurance to nearly 50 million people in the country who were not covered up until 2010. Obamacare was especially useful to those people whose incomes were not good enough to be able to afford high premiums levied by private and independent insurance companies.
Obamacare requires people to have health insurance for at least a period of 9 out of every 12 months, or they would be subject to a tax of 2.5% of their income. People who did not buy health insurance would be levied with a penalty of at least $695. The penalty was introduced in order to compel everyone to get health insurance. Additionally, the Obama administration introduced certain changes such as prohibiting insurance companies to turn down cover to people with existing medical conditions or increasing the cost of their premiums.
Listed below are some of the benefits of Obamacare insurance or the Affordable Care Act (ACT)
- The ACA ensures that most people get health insurance in order to avoid the penalty. By doing so, it brings down premium costs by distributing the risk.
- The ACA provides subsidies, thus cutting down health insurance costs. It also puts a limit on out-of-pocket costs to $7,150 for an individual plan and $14,300 for a family plan.
- It gives importance to preventive care. Obamacare made it mandatory for insurance plans to cover 10 essential preventive care benefits at no cost, such as domestic violence screening and chronic disease management. Obamacare also provides cover for services and devices that help people suffering from injuries, disabilities, and chronic conditions.
- It makes positive changes on how healthcare is delivered in the country. Obamacare has changed the way Medicare makes payments to hospitals and doctors. The ACA has introduced a system wherein payments are made on the basis of how well you get from receiving the treatments.
- Obamacare’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation aims to develop strategies that provide high-quality healthcare at affordable costs.