Can someone "dumb down" what Obamacare really means?

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I don't have time to watch the news or read articles so I don't understand much of what is being talked about. Can someone explain to me how it changes for citizens and what it will do to the future of our healthcare system? Particularly, for us nurses.

Specializes in ICU.
I don't have time to watch the news or read articles so I don't understand much of what is being talked about. Can someone explain to me how it changes for citizens and what it will do to the future of our healthcare system? Particularly, for us nurses.

1) Access to health insurance for 30 million Americans and lower premiums. More than 30 million uninsured Americans will find coverage under the law. Middle-class families who buy health care coverage through the exchanges will be eligible for refundable and advanceable premium credits and cost-sharing subsidies to ensure that the coverage they have is affordable.

2) The ability of businesses and individuals to purchase comprehensive coverage from a regulated marketplace. The law creates new marketplaces for individuals and small businesses to compare and purchase comprehensive coverage. Insurers will have to meet quality measures to ensure that Americans can access comprehensive coverage when they need it.

3) Insurers' inability to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.Beginning in 2014, insurers can no longer deny insurance to families or individuals with pre-existing conditions. Insurers are also prohibited from placing lifetime limits on the dollar value of coverage and rescinding insurers except in cases of fraud. Insurers are already prohibited from discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions.

4) Tax credits for small businesses that offer insurance. Small employers that purchase health insurance for employees are already receiving tax credits to encourage them to continue providing coverage.

5) Assistance for businesses that provide health benefits to early retirees.The law created a temporary reinsurance program for employers providing health insurance coverage to retirees over age 55 who are not eligible for Medicare, reimbursing employers or insurers for 80% of retiree claims. The program has offered at least $4.73 billion in reinsurance payments to more than 2,800 employers and other sponsors of retiree plans, with an average cumulative reimbursement per plan sponsor of approximately $189,700.

6) Affordable health care for lower-income Americans. Obamacare extends Medicaid to individuals with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty line, guaranteeing that the nation' most vulnerable population has access to affordable, comprehensive coverage.

7) Investments in women's health. Obamacare prohibits insurers from charging women substantially more than men and requires insurers to offer preventive services-including contraception-at no additional cost.

8) Young adults' ability to stay on their parents' health care plans. More than 3.1 million young people have already benefited from dependent coverage, which allows children up to age 26 to remain insured on their parents' plans.

9) Discounts for seniors on brand-name drugs. Pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to provide a 50% discount on prescriptions filled in the Medicare Part D coverage gap. Seniors have already saved $3.5 billion on prescription drug costs thanks to the Affordable Care Act provision.

10) Temporary coverage for the sickest Americans. The law established temporary national high-risk pools that are providing health coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions who cannot find insurance on the individual market. In 2014, they will be able to enroll in insurance through the exchanges. 67,482 individuals have already benefited from the program.

This federal legislation, the Affordable Care Act was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in June. The reforms are comprehensive and will enhance the health of millions of Americans.

Please stop calling it "Obamacare." Thank you.

obamacare=socialized medicine. The government will be in charge of health care and we will not receive as good of care as we did in the past. Does the GOP want to stop Medicare and SS? I think they do in its present form. They are still closer to right than Obama.

Specializes in Med-Surg.
OP: The 700 billion SC_Dude is mentioning is in savings not cuts! He is definitely putting a political spin on it because he does not mention the fact that Ryan (the GOP VP pick) has the same "cuts" (same dollar amount over the same time) in his Medicare voucher program. Of course this is not mentioned because he would have to expalin that ONLY the very wealthy will benefit from Ryan's $700 billion in cuts! The rest of us will continue to be underinsured and uninsured using privatized voucher programs!

By the way, there is no such thing as Obama Care. The health plan program you are probably referring to is called the Affordable Care Act. Basically, in a nut shell, it is AFFORDABLE for all Americans with or without pre-exisiting conditions. So, you as a Nurse will be able to care for people who have health insurance and so they can be more proactive in preventing poor outcomes.

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[TD=class: midtext]SC_Dude, congressional men and women and their families and those in the Senate received government run health care! The same people that say it is not good enough for our elderly and those of us in the future refuse to except privatized insurance plans in this country for themselves.... I wonder why? Could it possibly be because it costs too much out-of-pocket and the outcomes for most private insurance companies are poor???? Also, our military men and women and their families plus our military vets receive government run health care with very good outcomes. But of course, this is "OK" for all of the American groups I have mentioned, but not for the rest of us.

No the rest of us will continue to use our Emergency Rooms as our primary doctor when we can no longer ignore an illness because we cannot find a private company to accept a voucher (No private company will be forced to accept vouchers under Ryan's plan). This raises the cost of private insurance many folds and causes good hard working Americans to suffer the penalty of bankruptcy in an attempt to pay off medical bills and poor health outcomes in an attempt to ignore health problems.... Again, this is "OK" with you since government run insurance is sooooo scary to a small minority of people in this country despite being a good system in other westernized capitalist nations. Fox News Entertainers mention that the British citizens and Canadians hate their government run health insurance. I have yet to meet one in person that agrees. I also have yet to meet a person living and working in Massachusetts that hates his/her government-run health program.... You know.... Romney Care that the Affordable Care Act is based upon??????

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Hey, just thought Id mention, I am a Canadian RN, and I HATE the healthcare system up there. Everything takes too long. If you think people abuse the ER, just wait until everyone has access to it for free! If you think only administrators, doctors and CEOs will have their pays cut, think again. Everyone is going to feel the sting. That means less money to hire nurses, less jobs. That means more overtime, less staffing. It also means less functioning equipment.

Oh, and speaking of affordable...do you know that as an RN I was paying around 45% of my salary just in income taxes? That is not counting sales tax, property tax, and all the rest. Really, what ends up happening is that the poor who are already on medicare here will be affected in no way. The middle class(who are the ones hurting the most right now) are the ones who will see the biggest impact on their wallets, and NOT in the way President Obama is lying to everyone about. I have lived with socialized healthcare my whole life. I have worked in that system around 4 years. And let me tell you my friend, it doesnt work.

Specializes in Med-Surg.
What is VRBO?

And, I did slow down and mention that the bill states that care rationing of care isn't supposed to happen. Who is going to make sure they don't? It also states a whole bunch of other nice things they are supposed to do, many of which we already have MedPac for. The White House blog does do a nice job though of making it sound so good!

This new board does not have any oversite that a "committee" or a policy administor would have. They are creating the policy. And, not just policy, they are creating law in a unprecednted and unconstitutional manner.

They have one job, to reduce Medicare costs, and no no one will be overseeing them.

Here is a scenerio that is easy to imagine.

The board decides that to save x number of $$$, no one over 80 will get a knee replacement. Is this rationing? I would say yes, some might say no. Doesn't matter. Who is going to say they can't implement this?

Or, they could raise taxes to pay for Medicare? The bill says they can't, but it also makes them immune from any process that could stop them from doing so.

"Congress will stop them", you say. Well, to do that, both houses of Congress AND the President have to agree on an alternative. They have to figure out an alternative way to save the same amount of $$$. They aren't going to. Why would they? They created this board to make the decisions they don't want to be responsible for.

Lol, the bill says they cant raise taxes? Is that just like they said it wasnt a tax, it was a penalty. Then its a tax again so the bill cant get overturned. Then its NOT a tax again because the president doesnt want them to think he is raising taxes.

Oh, and the ridiculous statement about the rich needing to pay their 'fair share' always gives me the giggles. Lets review simple math.

Middle Class Joe makes 50 000$ per year. Let just say after taking off deductions, he pays 20% in taxes. That means he pays 10 000$ per year in taxes.

Now lets take Rich Man Mike. He makes 500 000$ a year. Even if he also pays 20% in taxes, that still makes him pay 100 000$ a year in taxes. Now I dont know about you, but Mike is paying a crapload more than Joe. I dont see how this is 'not fair'. Fair to me means everyone gets the same thing. Same privileges, same consequences.

Obamacare= President Obama goes door to door and has a Secret Service agent kill anyone with a pre-existing condition, so that insurance companies can no longer deny them insurance, as they're now dead.

It's as true as some other things that have been listed.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Well geez, if you really want to start talking about the truth, then maybe it should start with the White House huh?

Specializes in Med-Surg.

I might be new to the US, and I might not be as familiar as some with American politics. However, being from Canada, if there are two things I know about, its bull****ing politicians, and the so-called 'wonders' of socialized healthcare.

Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.
I might be new to the US, and I might not be as familiar as some with American politics. However, being from Canada, if there are two things I know about, its bull****ing politicians, and the so-called 'wonders' of socialized healthcare.

Yup that about sums it up. Welcome to 'Merica

Well since socialized healthcare sucks, it's a good thing that the Affordable Care Act is absolutely NOT socialized healthcare.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Ok, if thats the little wonder bubble you want to live in, be my guest. I just hope you guys dont end up having to live with the consequences of this 'not socialized' healthcare :)

Specializes in Cardiac/Neuro Stepdown.

Fascinating, please continue..

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Ok, if thats the little wonder bubble you want to live in, be my guest. I just hope you guys dont end up having to live with the consequences of this 'not socialized' healthcare :)

I'm also from Canada, And I also live in Michigan with my fiancé. Politics and bulls*** aside I've had four surgeries in Canada in the past 1 1/2 years with top of the line health care, no wait. "Socialized" or not, our government takes care of us, but there is a downside to every system, it's certainly not black and white. I don't like to get involved in politics, mostly because It tends to end up as a ******* match.

I also had to do PT in the US in order to keep my student visa active, that bill was $15,000 for 2 1/2 months(115/15 mins) not including every other fee on the face of the earth. I am currently doing PT in Canada (crossing the border for every visit) where it currently costs $53 flat rate for 45 mins. I don't see anything wrong with bringing inflation down to a reasonable rate where people don't end up bankrupt. My PT is also beginning to advertise over the border to bring uninsured residents to their facility.....

I don't know what the answer is for the US..but ya gotta try right?

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