by: Samuel Warde
This week marks the first anniversary of open enrollment of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and conservatives are still spreading baseless lies about the it (that is when they are not voting to repeal it, over and over and over again….).
We figured, once again, to clarify some points about the law to help others conservatives and Teabillies start understanding what is fact and what is pure fiction.
First off, if you’re getting your news from a meme, it’s probably not accurate. Anybody with Photoshop and an opinion can make one, but it doesn’t make it factual. My personal Facebook page is filled with enough nonsense to make any 5th grader shake his head.
1) Congress is not exempt from ACA. It’s quite the opposite. While John Q Public may opt to keep whatever insurance they have, Congress may not. They must use the marketplace (exchange) and pick a plan. The only change made since President Obama signed the bill into law regarding Congress, was a Republican demand that taxpayers – we – will continue to pay for their coverage.
2) Undocumented immigrants do not get free insurance or any insurance. They cannot buy from the marketplace. They are forced, like now, to visit the emergency room.
3) Small business’ are not forced to cut hours or fire employees to cover the cost of insurance. Any business with 50 or fewer employees is exempt from having to provide insurance. Those with fewer than 25 employees may qualify for tax credits.
4) The 2.3% tax does not apply to sporting goods or fishing supplies. The 2.3% tax applies to medical devices and is not a consumer based tax, it’s for the manufactures.
5) The government will not be picking your doctors. This is the same as it has always been; your doctor decides which insurance he wants to accept. You can even go out of network in most cases. According to the AMA, this is not an issue. If doctors want patients, they’ll accept most major carriers.
6) The ACA is not the largest tax hike in American history, far from it. We’ve had larger hikes under both Clinton and Reagan.
7) There is no change to senior’s insurance. Grandma and grandpa will have the same access to care, if not more.
8) Your privacy is still intact. HIPPA rights will still be the law of the land.
9) This is not socialism. They call this capitalism. Most people will still have private insurance, not government insurance. However, under the new law 80% of your premiums MUST go towards actual healthcare and not just sick for profit! Obama did not write this law; Congress did. Most will be getting refunds for premiums already paid. Many already have.
10) Muslims are exempt?!? Really?!? No. They’re not exempt.
11) Individual mandate. This nugget has many misinformed people ready to storm the castle. First off, the fine, for those ABLE to buy insurance but refuse, is a whopping $95.00, and does not go into effect until 2015. It also represents only about 2% of the population.
12) Premiums are going down, not up. According to the Congressional Budget Office, premiums will decrease at least 16% before tax credits. If your employer decided to pay the fine and not provide insurance, you would buy your own coverage through the marketplace. Each state is different but in CA, MD & NY, to name three, premiums will decrease between 30 & 50%.
I could write a 2000 page novel here, but I won’t. These are some significant facts that should help you understand the ACA. I’m still waiting for a “single payer” option, but baby steps.
For those who think insuring the 30 million Americans who are currently uninsured is a bad thing, sorry, that is disturbing. Those who think that lifetime caps, dropping someone because they become sick, or denying someone who had/has a pre-existing condition is okay, you may want to rethink your opinion.