Healthcare for All: How Obamacare Impacts Nursing

Nurses General Nursing

Published

  1. How has the ACA impacted your job, nursing in general, and healthcare overall?

    • 11
      The ACA has affected my job positively
    • 38
      The ACA has affected my job negatively
    • 22
      I'm unsure how the ACA has affected my job
    • 9
      The ACA has affected nurses in general positively
    • 32
      The ACA has affected nurses in general negatively
    • 19
      I'm unsure how the ACA has affected nurses in general
    • 16
      The ACA has affected the overall nature of healthcare positively
    • 42
      The ACA has affected the overall nature of healthcare negatively
    • 22
      I'm unsure how the ACA has affected the overall nature of healthcare

211 members have participated

Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

2014 has certainly been a year for the history books as far as healthcare is concerned. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, (ACA) the very nature of the business of healthcare in the United States has fundamentally changed.

As enrollment in the colloquially-named "Obamacare" closed in the spring of this year, the White House reported around 8 million enrollees. Of those estimates, a high percentage of those were previously uninsured.

Now, whether you're impressed by, or skeptical of the Affordable Care Act, it goes without saying, the level at which Americans are receiving medical benefits has dramatically shifted.

So, we toss the question to you nurses; how has the rollout of the ACA affected your job? Has it affected your work at all? We'd like to hear your thoughts!

Please complete the poll by voting in each of the 3 areas - personal job, nurses in general, overall health care. Then please tell us how the ACA has affected you personally, nurses in general, and the nature of healthcare.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

I'm interested in hearing some perspectives now that the ACA has been in place for a while. As a Canadian I have never known anything other than universal health care.

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Specializes in ED, Critical Care.

Honestly I can't say how it has effected overall care around my area.

I can say my daughter was looking to buy her own insurance. O care looked dandy til she saw the $6,000.00 deductible.

Cheaper to have her pay me for to stay on my insurance.

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Specializes in SCI and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Just what we all needed, more regulations and more documentation . Some people who didn't have insurance before, now have it. Other people who previously had insurance have had their private policies dropped without warning and now are faced with higher premiums and higher deductibles. Will all this improve health care? I guess time will tell.

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Specializes in psych. rehab nursing, float pool.
Honestly I can't say how it has effected overall care around my area.

I can say my daughter was looking to buy her own insurance. O care looked dandy til she saw the $6,000.00 deductible.

Cheaper to have her pay me for to stay on my insurance.

Yes,, however without the ACA your daughter would have not been able to stay on your policy most likely. Price also depends on what state you live in. and whether your state participated in expanding the Medicaid requirement or not.

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In response to the post from Canada: I just wanted to point out that this system is still not actually universal healthcare. It is still prohibitively expensive to obtain care unless you qualify for Medicaid, our low income HC system. Insurance premiums are even higher than before and deductible amounts make it senseless to pay the premiums. It is still cheaper to pay the penalty for not having insurance and pay the doctor out-of-pocket. The new insurance system is really only feasible for hospitalization.

And yes, I am a nurse, and still can't afford insurance.

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Specializes in ER.

I'm an ER nurse. I haven't noticed any increase in patients who are insured. The ACA has made it easier for those really seeking/wanting health insurance to obtain it,

Good for those who have lost thei insurance, etc. But nothing has changed for those who use the ER as a revolving primary care. They'll pay the "fine" out of their huge tax return and that's that.

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Specializes in ER.
In response to the post from Canada: I just wanted to point out that this system is still not actually universal healthcare. It is still prohibitively expensive to obtain care unless you qualify for Medicaid, our low income HC system. Insurance premiums are even higher than before and deductible amounts make it senseless to pay the premiums. It is still cheaper to pay the penalty for not having insurance and pay the doctor out-of-pocket. The new insurance system is really only feasible for hospitalization.

And yes, I am a nurse, and still can't afford insurance.

If you get insurance through the healthcare marketplace, you get credits/refunds from te government to ensure your premium payments aren't more than 1% of your income; meanwhile, if you're paying your premiums through insurance at work, there's no refunds/credits

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Specializes in Med Surg, Specialty.

I've had multiple patients with the preexisting condition issue which has greatly inhibited their care (which the ACA now gets rid of). Personally I have experienced free prenatal and newborn wellness visits which I think are great. I'm wondering what the negatives are that so many people reference in the poll?

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Specializes in Critical Care.
If you get insurance through the healthcare marketplace, you get credits/refunds from te government to ensure your premium payments aren't more than 1% of your income; meanwhile, if you're paying your premiums through insurance at work, there's no refunds/credits

Actually if you get your insurance through work you get a pretty substantial tax credit since the entire value of your income that comes in the form of an insurance plan is tax free, this typically means thousands in tax savings/subsidies for those who get their insurance through work. The main difference is that while under the exchange subsides the amount you get to help pay for insurance increases as your ability to buy insurance decreases, the tax-free status of employer provided insurance gives people more assistance as their income increases, instead of the other way around.

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I've seen no difference in patients and my health insurance from work has not been impacted, YET; however, when our union contract renews, we may see an impact on our costs.

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If you get insurance through the healthcare marketplace, you get credits/refunds from te government to ensure your premium payments aren't more than 1% of your income; meanwhile, if you're paying your premiums through insurance at work, there's no refunds/credits

But not everyone is eligible for those credits. You have to make a certain amount. In some states, if you make less than a certain amount, you are required to either apply for medicaid, or, if you choose to receive your health care from physicians/health plans of your choice, pay the full amount of the monthly premium, along with co-payments and deductibles. Without the credit the premium can be $600 a month for an individual, and the yearly deductible can be $6000.

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