Obamacare Signup Guide & Information on Affordable Care ActThe second round of open enrollment for Obamacare begins today, allowing those who didn't obtain health insurance last year the opportunity to get covered. If you are one of those individuals who didn't get health insurance during the first open enrollment, or if you are like me and want to search for new options, you have until February 15, 2015 to make your decision. Walmart, our nation's largest retailer, is cutting some 30,000 part-time employee's health care benefits, due to the rising costs for the company. Republicans fall in line, Democrats fall in love. This cheesy and juvenile saying drives me crazy, but it's one that I've unfortunately come to accept as one hundred percent accurate. Despite Barack Obama's presidency being a resounding success, he's sitting at a forty percent approval rating and he might very well lose the senate. On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Hobby Lobby could deny its employees certain health care coverage, in this case contraception, based on religious beliefs. This means that companies can now prohibit or restrict its employees from partaking in actions that are legal under US law but not in line the religious views of the company. Need a one stop shop if you still haven't applied for health insurance coverage and are wondering what you need to do? Look no further. My hope is that this article will provide you everything you need to know to enroll in a health insurance plan before this years deadline. The deadline to sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act is fast approaching. For those of you who have not signed up for coverage yet, there are some very important things that you will need to know going forward. Let's start with the most important update. If you do not sign up for coverage by the end of the day on March 31, you may have some wiggle room to sign up. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the national poverty rate for the continental US (for 2014) is $11,670/year. That's for one person, living by themselves. For every extra person in the household, you add $4,060. On Tuesday Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on what has become to be known as "The Hobby Lobby" case. I may be accused of being too hyperbolic, but I believe this case has the potential to redefine the concept of religious freedom for years to come.
Overview of LawThe Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, is a law passed by Congress in 2010 and upheld as Constitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 2012. The ACA was designed to expand medical insurance coverage to Americans that did not already have it by offering affordable and competitive rates through a newly created Health Insurance Marketplace and providing subsidies to individuals who purchase coverage. The law also expands Medicaid eligibility to individuals in states that choose to accept the expansion.
The main aspect of the ACA is the mandate that insurance companies accept all applications, regardless of any pre-existing condition an individual may have. The law also forbids insurers from dropping individuals when they become sick and prevents companies from placing annual or lifetime limits on coverage.
Another important aspect of the ACA is the provisions guaranteeing greater equality for women. The law mandates that all insurers, with the exception of religious institutions, provide contraceptive coverage for any women that desire it.
Most importantly, the ACA mandates insurance companies to spend 80-85% of premium dollars on total health costs and forces these companies to issue rebates to their policy holders if they don't comply. Patients also have a right to appeal any denial of service by an insurance company.
Obamacare Benefits & Positives| Date | Positive Result\Benefit | Rank | |
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| 03/23/10 | Insurance companies must spend 80% of the money raised from consumers premiums on health care and quality improvement | | |
| 03/23/10 | Health insurance companies can not charge higher premiums for out of network emergency room care | | |
| 03/23/10 | Insurance companies must provide consumers a short, easy to understand summary of their benefits and coverage | | |
| 03/23/10 | Mental health and drug addiction coverage is an "essential benefit" that can not be denied | | |
| 03/23/10 | Preventative services will be covered at no additional cost | | |
| 03/23/10 | Women are no longer charged higher premiums because of their gender | | |
| 03/23/10 | Consumers are guaranteed the right to appeal decisions made by their health insurance provider | | |
| 03/23/10 | HIV Testing Will Now Be Covered Under Obamacare | | |
| 03/23/10 | $143 billion in deficit reduction estimated between 2010-2019 from health care reform law provisions | | |
| 03/23/10 | Consumers guaranteed the right to choose the primary care doctor or pediatrician from their health plan’s provider network | | |
| 03/23/10 | Insurers selling to groups of 50 or more employees must spend 85% of premiums on medical care and quality improvement | | |
| 03/23/10 | Annual dollar limits on health benefits restricted and phased out by 2014 | | |
| 03/23/10 | Health care insurance plans prohibited from putting a lifetime limit on the benefits you receive | | |
| 03/23/10 | 50% discount on prescription drug costs for seniors in the Medicare "donut hole" starting in 2011 | | |
| 03/23/10 | $250 rebate for those in the Medicare Prescription drug "donut hole" during 2010 | | |
| 03/23/10 | Young adults can stay on parent's insurance plan up until age 26 | | |
| 03/23/10 | Children under 19 can no longer be denied coverage or benefits for a pre-existing condition | | |
| 03/23/10 | People denied coverage for a pre-existing condition given access to a temporary high risk health insurance plan | | |
| 03/23/10 | People with a pre-existing condition cannot be denied health coverge by an insurance company starting in 2014 | | |
Debunking Lies & Misinformation About the ObamacareFact Checking Articles on ObamacareThe Trump administration has lost another Obamacare legal battle — its second this week — just as the president has revived his drive to destroy and replace the 2010 health law. Eighteen U.S. states vowed to sue President Donald Trump's administration on Friday to stop him from scrapping a key component of Obamacare, subsidies to insurers that help millions of low-income people pay medical expenses, even as Trump invited Democratic leaders to negotiate a deal. In a move likely to roil America’s insurance markets, President Donald Trump will “immediately” halt payments to insurers under the Obama-era health care law he has been trying to persuade Congress to unravel for months. President Donald Trump has told advisers he wants to end payments of key Obamacare subsidies, a move that could send the health law's insurance markets into a tailspin, according to several sources familiar with the conversations. Many advisers oppose the move because they worry it will backfire politically if people lose their insurance or see huge premium spikes and blame the White House, the sources said. Trump has said that the bold move could force Congressional Democrats to the table to negotiate an Obamacare replacement. It will hit areas of the country that are rural and poor — and predominantly supported Trump — very hard. "First you get the votes, then you take the vote,” the Washington saying goes. Paul Ryan failed to get the votes for his health bill. So he’s not taking the vote. Republican leaders told members of Congress Friday that the House vote on the American Health Care Act, which President Donald Trump demanded for Friday, will not in fact happen. President Obama broke his relative silence since leaving office to tout the Affordable Care Act on its seventh anniversary—coincidentally, the same day that the House of Representatives is scheduled to try to repeal large chunks of the law. President Donald Trump often blasts Obamacare as a total disaster, a pathetic failure doomed to implode. But sometimes he adds a twist, suggesting that instead of trying to fix the situation, Republicans would be smarter to exploit the situation. “Let it be a disaster, because we can blame that on the Democrats,” Trump mused to the National Governors Association on February 27. “Let it implode, then let it implode in 2018 even worse … Politically, it would be a great solution.”
Conservative Extremism About Obamacare| Date | Conservative | Location | About | |
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| 05/05/14 | Stacey Campfield | Personal Blog | Stacey Campfield | | |
Democrats bragging about the number of manditory (sic) sign ups for Obamacare is like Germans bragging about the number of mandatory sign ups for train rides for Jews in the 40s.
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| 04/11/14 | Ted Cruz | Fox News | Ted Cruz | | |
I think Burwell presents an ideal opportunity to examine the failures that are Obamacare. And four years ago, reasonable minds could have differed over whether this thing might work. Today, seeing the disaster, seeing the trainwreck that is Obamacare, in my view, it is the essence of pragmatism to acknowledge this thing isn't working. We need to start over, repeal every word of it. Start over.
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| 03/25/14 | Michele Bachmann | House of Representatives | Michele Bachmann | | |
It is not at only the election of the court, but at the election of the unnamed bureaucrat that decides, today we will have these killer drugs that we mandate. Tomorrow, what drugs will they take off the list? Will I not get life-saving drugs that I need to get?
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| 02/24/14 | Ted Nugent | The Dennis Miller Show | Ted Nugent | | |
Well I got to tell you, Dennis, I just don't agree at all. There was an incrementalism to what happened in Germany and other places historically, where they came in slowly. And they started, you know, the power struggle between the different races, and the power struggle between different elements of society. And they incrementally worked their way in. And I think that's what Obamacare is, that's what I think most of what he represents. The IRS -- I really believe that what we see with the IRS can be compared accurately and...
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| 01/26/14 | Ted Cruz | Face the Nation | Ted Cruz | | |
“I didn’t threaten to shut down the government the last time. I don’t think we should ever shut down the government. I repeatedly voted… to fund the federal government.”
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Videos on Obamacare |  | Thu Jun 25, 2015
President Obama delivered remarks in the Rose Garden after the Supreme Court upheld a critical part of the... |
|  | Sat Jun 07, 2014
Senators Ron Johnson and Jay Rockefeller got into a debate over opposition to the health-care law, because the... |
|  | Tue Apr 01, 2014
Following the closing of the first open enrollment period of the Affordable Care Act, the President delivers... |
|  | Mon Mar 31, 2014
"To visually demonstrate how much he doesn't like Obamacare, GOP congressional candidate Will Brooke peppered a... |
|  | Wed Mar 12, 2014
Sen. Bernie Sanders asked a panel of experts to contrast the United States health care system with single-payer... |
|  | Thu Mar 06, 2014
The first lady sat down with Robin Roberts to discuss everything from healthcare to family. |
|  | Mon Mar 03, 2014
I talk to Michele Johnson, executive director of the Tennessee Justice Center, about Medicaid expansion in TN at... |
|  | Fri Feb 21, 2014
Jimmy asks First Lady Michelle Obama about two major White House initiatives: Let's Move and the Affordable Care Act. |
|  | Sun Feb 09, 2014
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) joined Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday to discuss ObamaCare and immigration reform on... |
|  | Mon Feb 03, 2014
After the Supreme Court ruled that states were not obligated to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable... |
|  | Sun Feb 02, 2014
Bill O'Reilly sits down with President Obama at the White House to discuss the IRS scandal, Benghazi, the... |
|  | Wed Jan 15, 2014
Hall of Fame Basketball player, Entrepreneur and Activist Ervin "Magic" Johnson urges young americans to... |
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