Health Care Reform Ruling Will Change Your Life In These Ways

With this morning's 5-4 Supreme Court decision affirming the constitutionality of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, or whatever else you make call it, nothing but an act of Congress can prevent the law's implementation. So how will the historic law affect you?

Below are just some of the ways:

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• You Will Not Be Denied Over A Pre-existing Condition

  Health insurance companies won't be allowed to deny coverage to Americans in frail health, according to <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/health/gap-in-health-care-law-s-protection-for-children-1.1828037" target="_hplink">ABC News</a>.

• Your Child's Policy Will Not Exclude Coverage For Any Illness

  Insurance companies won't be permitted to write child health care policies that exclude coverage for certain illnesses by 2014, according to <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/health/gap-in-health-care-law-s-protection-for-children-1.1828037" target="_hplink">ABC News</a>.

• Some Will Be Taxed For Not Buying Health Insurance

  Americans who do not purchase health insurance and are financially able to do so will be subject to a $695 penalty starting in 2014, according to <a href="http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/managingyourmoney/archives/2010/03/tax_implication.html" target="_hplink">Boston.com</a>.

• Your Insurance Plan Will Offer More Free Preventative Care

  All new health insurance plans since 2010 have been required to include free preventative care, according to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/26/health/health-reform-fun-facts/index.html" target="_hplink">CNN</a>. This includes mammograms, vaccinations, colonoscopies, physical examinations and other forms of care. All plans need to provide these free services by 2018.

• Seniors Will Pay Less For Prescriptions

  Before some provisions of the health care law went into effect, seniors were required to pay the full cost of prescription medications once they reached a limit on prescription drug spending, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/26/health-care-reform-medicare-prescription-drugs_n_1625629.html" target="_hplink">The Huffington Post</a> reports. Obamacare is on track to close the gap by 2020, according to <a href="http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4388&intNumPerPage=10&checkDate=&checkKey=&srchType=1&numDays=3500&srchOpt=0&srchData=&keywordType=All&chkNewsType=1%2C+2%2C+3%2C+4%2C+5&intPage=&showAll=&pYear=&year=&desc=&cboOrder=date" target="_hplink">the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services</a>.

• Insurance Policies Will Not Cap Your Coverage

  Because of health care reform, health insurance companies will no longer be able to impose annual caps on coverage by 2014, <a href="http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/health_stew/2012/03/acas_ban_on_lifetime_caps_prot.html" target="_hplink">Boston.com reports.</a>

• Insurance Companies Can't Drop You When You Get Sick

  As a result of health care reform, health insurance companies will not be allowed to end your coverage once you are sick, the <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-07-06/health/ct-biz-0706-rescissions-health-reform20100706_1_small-group-coverage-illinois-insurance-department-rescission" target="_hplink"><em>Chicago Tribune</em> reports</a>.

• You Can Remain On Your Parents' Plan Until Age 26

  As a result of health care reform, children can remain on their parents' insurance plan <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/health-care-reform-young-adults_n_1385083.html" target="_hplink">until they reach the age of 26.</a>

Comments

[patches04]

08:37 PM on 07/03/2012

How can anyone with any reasoning skills at all be against ACA? Surely, some of these people have children who are not covered till age 26? No refusal of health care!! Are these people of sound mind?

[uniquindividual]

03:10 AM on 07/01/2012

Romney defended the in MASS mandate by framing it terms of personal responsibility.

In a presidential debate Romney said....

"Yes, we said, look, if people can afford to buy it, either buy the insurance or pay your own way," he said. "Don’t be free-riders."

[Guy Stubbe]

11:57 PM on 06/30/2012

I see a lot of bitching about having to pay a few more dollars to help out the unfortunate people, what a shame

[ducksturtle]

05:03 AM on 06/30/2012

When did we go from being a Democracy to a dictatorship? This smacks of one man telling us how to live, spend our hard earned dollars, and force us to pay for everyone who can't pay for what we are forced to have. What is next? Pool our paychecks so everyone has the "same" economic statis? The common man is poor while big government is rich. We need to think long and hard before we decide who will lead this country and who will spend our money for the next four years.

[bookreader451]

11:07 AM on 06/30/2012

Can you be specific? You see one man did not write this law a collabrative effort of persons elected to govern us did. If one man had wrote this we would have single payer.

You need to re-examine how an elective government works and how laws get passed.

[ducksturtle]

04:59 AM on 07/01/2012

WOW. Did I step on some toes. Made you think, didn't I? Perhaps you might realize that was the intent all along. To get folks thinking. While you are thinking, who will pay for those who can't/won't ? Middle class America. Perhaps what we need to do is get this country back to it's former vaules. Hard work, One Nation Under God, hand-ups, not hand outs, etc. Ok, I've just stepped on more toes, right? The whole purpose is to get you thinking of" what can I do for my country, not what can my country do for me?". Forcing me and asking me are two different things. I'm the first to help, but don't have my government tell me I have to work hard to pay for others because we can't reduce the costs that lead to this need in the first place. Now have I made you really angry, fighting angry? Good !!!!! Then fight to reduce the need for this type of legislation and to make healthcare affordable in the first place. BTW I do know how it works. GOD bless this country. I am praying for all of us.

[uniquindividual]

02:59 AM on 07/01/2012

You are so over the top.

The legislation had to pass both houses of congress, was signed by the president and then ratified by the supreme court.

Dictatorship?

I don't yell dictatorship when my tax dollars are spent on wars I don't support.

Grow up

[ducksturtle]

05:07 AM on 07/01/2012

Made you think? Made you angry? Good now think of a solution to keep from having middle class America from paying for the enormous cost of this legislation and reduce this cost in the first place that cause this to happen. Get mad, get really angry, then use that to get the right people in government that will make the real difference. Fix the problem, not put a bandage on it. Oh, yes, war. That's another issue we should be very angry about. God help us. We need to fight His war, not mans.

[wesx]

06:11 PM on 06/29/2012

I cant help but think our big problem is healthcare cost that rise 200% a year and also where and who is going be paying for all the subsidised and free healthcare provided by the plan. Who is going to pay for this ? We are all promised cheaper and better coverage than we have now but I just dont see that happening.

[uniquindividual]

03:05 AM on 07/01/2012

You already pay for it now. People without healthinsurance still get care when they show up at an ER. Those who have health insurance pay for their care through higher insurance costs.

Why is this so tough to understand?

Additionally, there are SOOOO many problems with our current system - very inefficient and profits drive up the costs. The average family of 4 in the USA pays $10,000 dollars more a year than is paid in any other country in the world. But our health outcomes are very average.

http://visual.ly/healthcare-costs-around-world

[JamesWorthy]

02:27 PM on 07/03/2012

uniquindividual, I'm not sure how reliable the sources are for the link you posted, the only cited sources were Frontline, and I cannot find anything about them as a statistical analysis company anywhere on the internet, and The Kaiser Family Foundation, which all the reliable I have reliable statistics here that state just the opposite. This is an analysis done by the National Center for Policy Analysis with each statistic cited from reliable sources of social scientists and the statistics shown are extremely different than the ones you have posted. After reading this it makes you question how great this new Obamacare system will really be.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa532.pdf

[jimme]

05:33 PM on 06/29/2012

I clearly remember the Right saying the same things when they defeatd Hillary's version of affordable healthcare 20 years ago. And in those ensuing years, not one finger lifted by them to improve costs, in fact, they skyrocketed. This country will be great again, someday, but not until the voters who put them into Office stop believing their false promises.

[bookreader451]

11:08 AM on 06/30/2012

I would like to know how many have invested in for profit healthcare facilities

[jimme]

03:29 PM on 06/30/2012

Like Boehner, he invested in companies that were going to get a lot of money due to the Keystone pipeline. Now that's insider trading on a grand scale, and also criminal in my book.

[OregonCoaster]

10:11 AM on 06/29/2012

People largely refuse to admit fundamental facts of life. One of those is that everyone is transitioning from living to eventual death. Essentially, we all have our share of preexisting conditions--we just do not all know what those conditions are. I know someone who lived 60 years with a common but eventually life threatening heart valve anomaly before it was discovered. That in turn predisposed him to other cardiac conditions. It was a previously undiscovered condition.

The wrong kind of health insurance would have squeezed him into an expensive rated policy or out of coverage entirely. He's not alone. Without reform, millions of people per year have been denied affordable care. That's not a health CARE system it is a health denial system. Now we have a potential for real healthcare reform if the Republicans do not destroy it for all but those wealthy enough to afford the costs.

[maziet]

10:47 PM on 06/29/2012

Have you checked healthcare.gov and looked at the pre-existing coverage is that Oregon offers in their insurance pool? You have to be uninsured for 6 months and meet some other requirements, then you'll have to pay between $262-$826/month with two plans offered plus the deductible and out of pocket medical and pharmacy limits for an annual cost of $8694 to $15,962. Premiums go up with age and if you can't pay a monthly premium you're terminated. That's only covers one person. Granted it's less cost than not having insurance, but that range is not necessarily affordable. On the 80/20 rule, the average rebate is $368. There are lots of loopholes and grandfathering. Perhaps some of our leadership see these things and want a system that will cover everyone without penalizing those that health insurance premiums will put them over the financial edge. A lot of this doesn't get implemented until 2014 and beyond. I know a person that doesn't fall within the poverty guidelines who's financially unable to pay $300/month for insurance that will be required, let alone the deductible. Of course, she'll get a tax credit AFTER she's struggled to pay for the year. I know another person that has good insurance coverage, but she doesn't use it if she can avoid it because she can't afford the deductible. On the surface and media coverage it looks good, but when you start digging, it's good for some and not so good for others.

[OregonCoaster]

12:31 AM on 06/30/2012

Everything is changing right now. The new revisions to the Oregon law are still being implemented. The Oregon Health Plan is being totally revised are you aware of that? For me it is irrelevant because I never qualified. I paid for individual insurance at a huge price for 7 years. That's not Oregon's fault that is standard healthcare of the past decade. The new stuff will only affect medicaid recipients. Not me. 

[fortressfountain]

09:18 PM on 06/28/2012

So if you cannot afford it your best bet is to quit your job or you pick up the tab for others.

[Lilliputian]

11:04 AM on 06/29/2012

"Starting in 2014, almost everyone will be required to be insured or pay a penalty. There are subsidies to help people who can't afford coverage. Most employers will face penalties if they don't offer coverage for their workers. Newly created insurance markets will make it easier for individuals and small businesses to buy affordable coverage. And Medicaid will be expanded to cover more low-income people."

http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/2012/06/29/look-the-ruling-upholding-obamacare/AyeqwSKDMLVJStSeCihItO/story.html
*********

[buckfalcon]

12:36 PM on 06/29/2012

As long as the penalties are less than the coverage, businesses won't offer coverage. And by the, the penalty will be written off as an expense. Win-win.

[jimme]

05:35 PM on 06/29/2012

You've been watching Fox again, haven't you ?

[manfrommars]

05:53 PM on 06/28/2012

THUG PARTY REPUBLICANS want you to play the lottery with your health care. . they don't want to spend good money for your stupid health care which odds are you won't need anyway. They PROMISED that money TO Scott Brown and their friends at JP Morgan -little Jamie Dimon. . money for him to gamble with. They want to keep the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthy so they got money to gamble with. Hell, the odds of you showing up at the emergency room with some bankrupting condition are slim. So go on! Play THUG PARTY LOTTERY! AND WIN WIN WIN!

[mgmgmg]

05:36 PM on 06/28/2012

Don't forgot to mention the rebate checks people are going to be getting from the insurance companies!

[Chuck Bush]

03:51 PM on 06/28/2012

I expected the court to up hold the law but I did not expect them to change the wording in order to do so. I have read the law and there are a few good things in it but in those 27 hundred pages are things the democrats have lied about from the beginning. I was particularly stunned at the pay outs to cronies of their party. The good things about obama care could have been written on 2 pages!

[Pakulio]

04:52 PM on 06/28/2012

Please give some specifics.

[Chuck Bush]

02:44 PM on 06/30/2012

Pak one of my biggest beefs with the law is the fact it forces taxpayers to give money to union pension fund. I spen23 years with the DOJ and I can tell you this is the same as giving money to the mafia, The UAW has already received more than 200 million dollars and they are run by the Genovese crime familyWhy is this in a health care bill! I also don't like paying for illegals insurance, mine is expensive enough and many other things but you should get  copy and at least look thru it. We can do better.

[Sue-in-Jersey]

05:25 PM on 06/28/2012

The GOP added most of the pages you're so upset about, including stuff you're being told are lies from Democrats.

[Chuck Bush]

02:36 PM on 06/30/2012

Sue the gop added no pages that I am aware of but to discuss a 2700 page law with people who have not read or researched it I realize is a losing proposition but you can get a copy from the library of Congress, thats where I got mine, also my page is open to every one and I welcome helpful comments

[MIKEBC]

03:49 PM on 06/28/2012

Democrats care about whats best for people, republicans care about whats best for health insurance company profits!

[Springer79]

04:14 PM on 06/28/2012

Health insurance companies will make the same amount of profit. They'll simply raise premiums.

[Robert Pope]

04:25 PM on 06/28/2012

They won't be allowed to raise premiums, and profits, thanks to the 80% rule, will be refunded to the policy holders.

[umwaitwhat]

06:25 PM on 06/28/2012

Somebody doesn't know what they are talking about!

[plan-uts]

10:33 AM on 06/29/2012

If you really believe that I have a wonderful investment consultant for you B. Madoff.

[uniquindividual]

03:23 AM on 07/01/2012

http://visual.ly/healthcare-costs-around-world

As the tables indicate, we can't continue the current system...