Highbrow Magazine - ACA https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/aca en The Problem With the Republican Healthcare Plan https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/7582-problem-republican-healthcare-plan <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 05/28/2017 - 14:12</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1trumpryan.jpg?itok=tRYjwl87"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1trumpryan.jpg?itok=tRYjwl87" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p>There was something sublimely degrading about the beer bash President Donald Trump threw May 4 for House Republicans who passed his health care bill by the narrowest of partisan margins.</p> <p> </p> <p>Start with the host, who will say or do anything. By now it’s apparent that the president is untethered to reality. If he were to be impeached, a compassionate chief justice might declare him incompetent to stand trial because he lacks the mental capacity to be responsible for his words or acts.</p> <p> </p> <p>But the Republicans who sniffed his musk last week aren’t blissed by the clueless stupor his narcissism affords him. They’re fearful of their constituents. No wonder that, of the 217 congress members who voted his way, only two — one in Idaho, one in upstate New York — held district town halls this past weekend. They did not go at all well. When the rest of the cowering Republican conference is forced to face their voters, it will be similarly ugly.</p> <p> </p> <p>They must be baffled by how devoid of mojo their old battle cries have become. “Jobs-killing Obamacare” packs no punch in an economy that’s added more than 10 million jobs since the Affordable Care Act passed. “Disaster” and “death spiral” sound demented to someone who’s gone from no insurance to comprehensive coverage. “Higher premiums, higher deductibles, higher co-pays” may in some cases be accurate, but for Americans long suffering from rising prices, the real news is the slowing of the rate of increase.</p> <p> </p> <p>Republican capitulation to the Freedom Caucus’ demand to torpedo Obamacare’s coverage of pre-existing conditions has prompted hundreds of heartbreaking — and televised — stories of congenital defects, deadly tumors, chronic ailments, addictions and mental illnesses, whose long-term treatment was until recently made affordable by irrevocable insurance, but which now is slated for sacrifice in exchange for a trillion-dollar cut to Medicaid and a humongous tax cut for the wealthiest.</p> <p> </p> <p>Not only will those stories, juxtaposed with Rose Garden revelry, make for mercilessly effective ads in the coming midterm campaign; they also sound the death knell for the most toxic trope in the Republican rhetorical armory: the stigma of the unworthy unhealthy.</p> <p> </p> <p>The label descends from the widespread distinction, as recent as a century ago, between the worthy and the unworthy poor. The worthy poor — widows, orphans, the blind — were indigent through no fault of their own, victims of random misfortune, life’s vicissitudes, circumstances beyond their control. But the unworthy poor were the cause of their own impoverishment. Lazy, morally weak, addled by drink, gamblers: They had only themselves to blame. The worthy poor deserved charity; the unworthy, a kick in the pants.</p> <p> </p> <p>The Depression altered the presumption that bootstrapping is the royal road to success. If there aren’t any jobs, it doesn’t matter how much moxie you have. From our common catastrophe came a new compact. Every person is worthy of basic human decency, a safety net to catch us, a freedom from want we pledge to one another. To secure it? Not the market, not inheritance, not the luck of our genes — the government. And so from Social Security to Medicare, unemployment insurance to food stamps, we committed public resources to promote the public good.</p> <p> </p> <p><br /> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumcongress_11.jpg" style="height:382px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Universal health care was always the outlier in America — not just the notion that government should provide it, but the idea that it’s an inalienable right. You could see that wariness, stoked by decades of propaganda, in a Wall Street Journal-Harris poll two years before Obama was elected. Asked whether unhealthy people should pay more for insurance, a majority of Americans – 53 percent – said yes. You can hear that same animus today in Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks’ defense of Trumpcare: “It will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health costs to contribute more to the insurance pool that helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives. They’re healthy, they’ve done the things to keep their bodies healthy, and right now, those are the people who have done the things the right way that are seeing their costs skyrocketing.”</p> <p> </p> <p>“Moral hazard” is how economists describe the ability to evade the bad consequences of risky decisions. The Wall Street bailout, which prevented a global meltdown, absolved the banks of having hell to pay. I get why House Republicans almost sank it; it maddened me, too. To them, the ACA’s passage two years later reprised that escape from accountability. It didn’t penalize people enough for being addicted to nicotine, for consuming the sugar and fat marketed to them, for escaping a stressful day with a sedentary night.</p> <p> </p> <p>The ACA has helped millions of Americans with illnesses unrelated to personal decisions get access to healthcare. At the same time, it established a no-fault policy for having made choices that are bad for you. Under current law, your right to treatment doesn’t depend on how or why you became dependent on opioids or alcohol, or whether your high blood pressure or cholesterol might have been prevented by behavior change. All that counts is that you’re seeking a path to health. We don’t punish the sick for being unhealthy; life has done that enough. There are not the worthy unhealthy and the unworthy unhealthy. All there is is us.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>This column was first published in the <a href="http://jewishjournal.com/opinion/marty_kaplan/218790/stigma-unworthy-unhealthy/">Jewish Journal</a>.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio: </strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Marty Kaplan is the Norman Lear Professor of Entertainment, Media and Society and directs the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.  In the Carter Administration he served as chief speechwriter to Vice President Walter F. Mondale.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aca" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ACA</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ahca" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ahca</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/republicans" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Republicans</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/paul-ryan" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Paul Ryan</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/donald-trump" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Donald Trump</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/healthcare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">healthcare</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/congress" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">congress</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Marty Kaplan</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Google Images</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 28 May 2017 18:12:15 +0000 tara 7534 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/7582-problem-republican-healthcare-plan#comments The Dangers of Repealing Obamacare https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/7278-dangers-repealing-obamacare <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 01/01/2017 - 13:17</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/4healthcareobama.jpg?itok=OzxSH02X"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/4healthcareobama.jpg?itok=OzxSH02X" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong>From our content partner <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2016/12/people-of-color-and-the-poor-will-be-hardest-hit-by-aca-repeal.php">New America Media</a></strong>:</p> <p> </p> <p>President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to repeal and replace Obamacare is bad news for millions of Americans, but the poor and people of color are going to be hit hardest, say healthcare advocates.</p> <p> </p> <p>“The winners and losers from repealing Obamacare will depend crucially on the details of whatever replacement plan materializes,” said Larry Levitt, senior vice president for special initiatives at the Kaiser Family Foundation during a webinar Dec. 19. “Based on what those replacement plans look like so far, it seems that the poor and people with pre-existing medical conditions could end up worse off.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Approximately 20 million people have gotten coverage since the launch of Obamacare.</p> <p> </p> <p>Trump has yet to reveal details of what he plans to do to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, other than to say that he intends to dismantle it soon after he takes office. It’s likely that some parts of it will be left untouched – like the pre-existing condition provision – and replacement could be delayed by a couple of years.</p> <p> </p> <p>The webinar was organized by the nonprofit California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), to give journalists an overview of what California, the state that took the lead in implementing some of the key provisions of Obamacare, could face if Trump makes good on his threat.</p> <p> </p> <p>Among those provisions were expanding Medi-Cal (California’s name for Medicaid) and setting up a health insurance marketplace for people to purchase federally subsidized coverage best suited to their budget, said Amy Adams, CHCF’s senior program officer. Additionally, even before the ACA became law, the state banned the prevalent practice of gender-based premium cost variations – younger women were paying more than men.</p> <p> </p> <p>As a result of its robust implementation, the state’s uninsured rate for residents under 65 fell by nearly half, from 22 percent in 2009 to 9.5 percent in 2015, according to a California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). More low-income people who historically were shut out of health insurance were able to gain coverage, as were people in minority communities.</p> <p> </p> <p>The survey showed that uninsured rates fell by nearly 7 percent among Asian Americans and African Americans, and 6.5 percent among Latinos.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2mediumhealthcare_0.jpg" style="height:335px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>More than 10 percent of the populations in the counties of Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Joaquin and Tulare got coverage, according to a just-released UC Berkeley Labor Center study.</p> <p> </p> <p>A repeal would mean that California would lose around $20 billion in annual federal funding for Medi-Cal expansion and Covered California subsidies, making it virtually impossible for it to continue offering those programs.</p> <p> </p> <p>“It is a very large amount of money and would be difficult for the state to generate a comparable amount of revenue,” to go it alone, pointed out Adams.</p> <p> </p> <p>“It would be difficult for any individual state to try to raise the money required and provide benefits comparable to the ACA,” Levitt said. “That would put the state significantly at odds with other states in terms of tax rates and public benefits.”</p> <p> </p> <p>But critics of the ACA say that one of the least popular provisions of the law – forcing individuals to have health insurance and companies to cover their employees or face a penalty – would be eliminated with a repeal. An estimated $1.3 billion would be lost in eliminated penalties.</p> <p> </p> <p>One idea Trump’s advisory team has been floating is to allow insurance carriers to sell insurance across state borders, something some insurers already do. That could come with its own set of problems, Levitt said, because it could drive people to states where the insurance industry is less regulated. He said California has been able to rein in its providers to some degree because of “its stringent regulations.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Levitt pointed out that the safety net provided by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), clinics that provide healthcare to underserved communities, would weaken if the ACA were repealed. Those unable to retain their insurance coverage would likely flock to FQHCs, putting an extra burden on them.</p> <p> </p> <p>“There are a lot of moving pieces,” at this time, Levitt said. “No doubt that people are split on the ACA,” he said. “But ACA is status quo.”</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>From our content partner <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2016/12/people-of-color-and-the-poor-will-be-hardest-hit-by-aca-repeal.php">New America Media</a></strong></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obamacare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obamacare</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aca" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ACA</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/donald-trump" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Donald Trump</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/healthcare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">healthcare</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Viji Sundaram</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 01 Jan 2017 18:17:35 +0000 tara 7314 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/7278-dangers-repealing-obamacare#comments Those Not Protected by Affordable Care Act Lack a Safety Net https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3208-those-not-protected-affordable-care-act-lack-safety-net <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 11/20/2013 - 09:24</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/4healthcareObama_0.jpg?itok=Gqy6pFZK"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/4healthcareObama_0.jpg?itok=Gqy6pFZK" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From our content partner, <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/11/safety-net-for-those-not-covered-by-aca-may-not-be-there.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> Even though the Affordable Care Act will significantly reduce California’s uninsured population, unless county-run health programs are well funded, those who don’t enroll, or cannot enroll because of their income level or their undocumented status, will be left with an “uneven safety net,” according to a study released last week by the Health Access Foundation.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “The Affordable Care Act (ACA) should encompass everyone” evenly, asserted Maria Luna, an uninsured and undocumented resident, who had to move out of Yolo County to Los Angeles County so she could get treatment for the tuberculosis she was diagnosed with. Health care in Los Angeles County, she asserted during the teleconference when the study results were released, was more “immigrant friendly.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> The ACA bars the undocumented from accessing any federally funded programs.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The report comes at a time when counties are making crucial decisions in the coming weeks on the scope of their safety net programs for indigent care after the full implementation of the ACA on Jan. 1, 2014.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Because California has expanded its Medi-Cal program, known as Medicaid in the rest of the nation, under the ACA, an estimated additional 635,000 low-income individuals are expected to enroll in the program in the first year. The state has allocated $1.4 billion in its 2013- 2014 budget for the expansion.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But because there will be fewer uninsured people, the budget reduces funding for county indigent care programs by $300 million. And that amount is expected to shrink further as the ACA becomes fully implemented in the coming years and more uninsured residents secure health insurance.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Counties have traditionally been the provider of last resort for those who are uninsured and who cannot access health care through other means.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The state budget reallocation requires counties to submit funding plans to the state by January 2014, with initial decisions in November 2014.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/1doctorsoffice%20%28Dept%20of%20Interior%20Wiki%29.jpg" style="width: 650px; height: 518px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> “California is at a pivotal moment when counties have to decide about the future of our safety net,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of the Health Access Foundation.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Alex Briscoe, director of Alameda County’s Health Care Services Agency, said he is worried that a cut in funding to Alameda County is sure to “destabilize its safety net” and “adversely impact its most vulnerable population, those who are least likely to access health care in traditional settings.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> The county has been at the forefront of providing health care to all of its residents, regardless of their immigrant status. With an anticipated cut from its current funding of $51 million from the state to $15 million, Alameda County’s health program will not be able to meet the needs of the 100,000 residents expected to remain uninsured in the county after the ACA is fully implemented , Briscoe said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Wright said that there is talk in some counties about reducing services for those who will remain uninsured, something that could lead to dire consequences.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-Covina, said that the Health Access report clearly points out one thing – that California has a two-tiered health care system -- one tier that caters to those who can afford health care, and another that denies it to the poor and undocumented.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Vanessa Aramayo, with California Partnership, a statewide coalition focused on poverty issues, pointed out that there “are millions of Marias out there” who have a hard time accessing health care and end up using hospital emergency rooms as primary care centers.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Disease does not discriminate between legal and (undocumented) status,” she warned.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/11/safety-net-for-those-not-covered-by-aca-may-not-be-there.php">New America Media</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aca" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ACA</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/undocumented-immigrants" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">undocumented immigrants</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care-law" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care law</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicaid" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicaid</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicare</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Viji Sundaram</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 20 Nov 2013 14:24:19 +0000 tara 3880 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3208-those-not-protected-affordable-care-act-lack-safety-net#comments The Consequences of Failing to Obtain Health Insurance in 2014 https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2404-consequences-failing-obtain-health-insurance <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 05/06/2013 - 08:56</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcarereform_3.jpg?itok=n61lfy1o"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcarereform_3.jpg?itok=n61lfy1o" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> To buy or pay the penalty? That is the question that will confront many U.S. residents in the coming months, when open enrollment season begins for health insurance coverage, under the terms of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.</p> <p>  </p> <p> ACA will be fully implemented on January 1, 2014, when most legal U.S. residents will be required to have “minimum essential health coverage” or make a “shared responsibility payment,” as the Congressional Budget Office puts it in regulations it rolled out last fall. That’s code for penalty.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The penalty “is enforced through a (Internal Revenue Service) tax code,” noted Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, D.C.</p> <p>  </p> <p> So when you file your 2014 tax returns, you will have to let Uncle Sam know what kind of health insurance coverage you have and what, if any, tax credit you are eligible for, unless you can claim you are exempt from buying health insurance.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Non-financial exclusions include:</p> <p>  </p> <p> •           You are between jobs and without insurance for up to three months.</p> <p> •           It contradicts your religious beliefs.</p> <p> •           You are an undocumented immigrant.</p> <p> •           You are a member of an Indian tribe.</p> <p> •           You are in jail.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The financial exclusions for not having health insurance include having a family income so low that you don’t have to file an income-tax return, Pollitz said. Or your minimum essential coverage exceeds a certain percentage of your household income for the most recent taxable year. In 2014, that is 8 percent.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Coverage could take many forms. It could be a government-sponsored plan like Medicaid or Medicare, an employer-sponsored plan or a plan purchased on the individual market.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Applicable penalty</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> The individual one-time penalty under ACA in 2014 will be $95 per adult, or 1 percent of your income, whichever is greater. So say your annual income is $50,000, you’d pay $500. For every uninsured child, the penalty is $47.50. The family maximum is $285.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Coverage is assessed on a monthly basis,” said Pollitz. “So if you were uninsured for six months, you’d owe half the otherwise applicable penalty.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> She said that the government has given a wide window – from Oct. 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 – for enrollment this time, but from next year on there will only be a three-month window to sign up.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Will people take the gamble and skip coverage, hoping that their youth or good health will protect them?</p> <p>  </p> <p> If the state of Massachusetts, which passed a landmark health care law in 2006, which became the blueprint for the 2010 ACA, is any indication, the number of people who will refuse to get some form of coverage will be low, Pollitz surmised.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In Massachusetts, she observed, “there’s a culture of coverage. Most people want to comply with the law.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Indeed, within a year and a half after the law passed there, the majority of people signed up for coverage.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But when it comes to the ACA, an estimated 6 million people, who cannot claim legitimate exclusions, will likely take the gamble and remain uninsured in 2016, the government predicts.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Pollitz said there are no criminal penalties to those who violate the law, just a civil one. That could mean seizing your refund.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/05/whats-the-penalty-if-you-dont-buy-health-insurance.php">New America Media</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obamacare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obamacare</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/affordable-care-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Affordable Care Act</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aca" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ACA</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/penalties-no-health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">penalties of no health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicaid" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicaid</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/medicare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">medicare</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Viji Sundaram</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 06 May 2013 12:56:35 +0000 tara 2806 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2404-consequences-failing-obtain-health-insurance#comments Obama, Justice Roberts and How the Crucial Health Care Victory Will Affect Millions https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1275-obama-justice-roberts-and-how-crucial-health-care-victory-will-affect-millions <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 07/08/2012 - 17:10</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcaresupremecourt%20%28NewsOne%29.jpg?itok=BTTIQTbe"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumhealthcaresupremecourt%20%28NewsOne%29.jpg?itok=BTTIQTbe" width="480" height="321" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> Shakespeare's plays all begin with a conflict that is well underway by the time the curtain goes up.  A divided court, controversial law, and a presidential election five months away took center stage in this summertime drama.   In what seems to be the climax for President’s Obama signature legislation, we are actually in the midst of the greatest health care transition this country has ever seen. </p> <p>  </p> <p> On the last day of the Supreme Court’s 2011-2012 session, the decision came down on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or “ObamaCare” if you’re a Republican.  Astonishingly, the leader of the free world found out as many Americans did, watching television on a warm June morning.  The president was outside the Oval Office where he could hear and see a bank of television monitors.  FOX News and CNN reported that the centerpiece of the law, the individual mandate requiring all Americans to carry health insurance, had been struck down.  President Obama didn’t react. </p> <p>  </p> <p> About a minute later, it was revealed that the ACA had indeed survived the challenge, with the confusion coming from reading the opinion’s first paragraphs.  The court rejected the argument that the mandate was valid due to the interstate commerce clause in the Constitution, but found it constitutional on the government’s taxing authority. </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Stranger Than Fiction</strong></p> <p> The decision sent shockwaves throughout the nation.  Conservative Chief Justice Roberts authored the 5–4 ruling joining the liberal judges.  Moderate Justice Kennedy’s dissenting vote swung to the right with the conservative block.  The law, and possibly the president’s fortunes, had been saved by a chief justice whose confirmation Obama had voted against in 2008 as senator.  The question on everyone’s mind was why?</p> <p>  </p> <p> John Roberts’s court had delivered 5-4 opinions over its first years along ideological lines, bringing accusations of a partisan court.  Maybe he wanted to re-establish the legitimacy of his court by finding the law constitutional.  Or perhaps he saw the unraveling of years of precedent as a threat to the court’s reputation.  We probably will never know for sure.  Reports of Roberts changing his vote after initially siding with the conservative justices are beginning to surface.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Although the ACA is now firmly the law of the land, a constitutional law is not necessarily a permanent law.  Presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his party’s members of Congress vow to repeal the law.  Rush Limbaugh calls it the biggest tax increase in the history of the world.  Fox News’s Megyn Kelly ominously said on air that a sleeping giant had been awoken, ending with, “It’s on!”</p> <p>  </p> <p> Rhetoric aside, what does the law mean to Americans?  If you have health insurance already through your employer, maybe not much.  For 30 million uninsured Americans, it might mean anything from affordable coverage to saving your life.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/MediumObamaPhoto_2.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 334px; " /></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Health Insurance Ensured</strong></p> <p> Carson Hall hasn’t had health coverage in more than 20 years, despite never not working.  Being self-employed, an individual policy always carried with it prohibitively high premiums and deductibles.  He has gambled that he would never need coverage.</p> <p>  </p> <p> He lost that bet.  Last year he fell on the sidewalk and hit his head less than a mile from Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles.  An ambulance ride to the ER, a CAT scan and a prescription for Vicodin and he was home.  The bill for $15,000 followed him there a month later. </p> <p>  </p> <p> “I would have walked to the ER if I knew that the ambulance alone was going to cost almost $2,000 alone,” Carson said.  “But I ended up needing stitches.  I can’t believe that something so minor cost so much,” he added.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The ACA will provide Carson the opportunity to purchase affordable health care beginning in 2014, most likely from a private insurer since a public option was taken out of the act early on.  The plans available will be through an exchange or consortium of insurers set up by the states.  By pooling people like Carson, insurance companies will be able to charge lower premium just like they do for employers.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Most developed nations have some form of universal coverage.  Great Britain and France have what is probably closest to government-run health care.  Japan and Germany have something closer to what we have now, near universal coverage through private and public insurers.  What makes our system so confusing is that each of the 50 states regulates health insurance along with the federal government.</p> <p>  </p> <p> A federal law called ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) passed in 1974 was supposed to allow self-insured health plans (in which the employer assumes the risks) to adhere to federal laws rather than state statutes.  But it has had the effect of squashing lawsuits against health plans in state courts, where they stand a better chance of prevailing.  Employers that don’t self-insure are regulated by the state, meaning that policies cannot be sold across state lines.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Currently, since we have an employer-based system each time you change jobs you most likely will change carriers.  If you’re laid off, it’s expensive to keep overage through COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, part of ERISA) since you have to pay all the premiums yourself rather than your employer picking up a portion.  Unemployed for more than 18 months?  You probably will lose your coverage.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The ACA does ensure a host of protections for those who do purchase health insurance, whatever the type.  Among them:</p> <p> ·        A ban on insurance companies refusing coverage to those with pre-existing conditions</p> <p> ·        No monetary caps on coverage</p> <p> ·        Children can be on parent’s plan until age 26</p> <p> ·        The poor placed in the state/federally-funded Medicaid program</p> <p> ·        Exchanges set up by the state pooling individuals without employer coverage and matching them to private insurers</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumjohnroberts.%20%28CSPAN%29.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 337px; " /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Most of these provisions would have unraveled had the individual mandate been declared unconstitutional.  Some people would have waited until they became sick to enroll in a health plan.  The part of the ACA that wasn’t looked upon favorably by the court was the requirement that states expand their Medicaid program for the poor or risk losing federal dollars.  It was ruled the federal government couldn’t make such a threat, although some states are voluntarily expanding their program.  Others, like Florida, refuse to even though it has one of the highest percentages of uninsured in the nation</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Boon for Health Insurers?</strong></p> <p> You might think that health insurance companies would be salivating at the thought of getting a slice of the 30 million Americans that are presently uninsured.  Think again.  For years they have been cherry-picking a healthy pool of people who are working for large employers.  Medicare takes on the elderly, who are the sickest generally.  And the destitute either end up in the Medicaid program or uninsured.  The working poor?  They probably don’t have insurance: People who live paycheck-to-paycheck and own Mom and Pop shops like auto repair, salons or diners usually can’t afford the premiums associated with individual policies.  So they have to just chance it.  Until now.</p> <p>  </p> <p> United Healthcare, the nation’s largest insurer, said before the decision that they would keep most of the law’s provisions even if the individual mandate were struck down.   Shortly after the ruling, Cigna issued a mostly positive statement giving their customers a toll-free number and online resources to answer their questions.  Health insurers have spent millions preparing for and enacting the first parts of the law, and they don’t want to undo that.  Exactly what Obama had planned.  Perhaps they are now realizing that maybe they can figure out a way to make a profit on a larger pool.</p> <p>  </p> <p> As for employers, those with more than 50 employees must provide coverage. Small businesses do not have to provide coverage, although they will receive tax credits as an incentive to do so.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>A Conservative Idea</strong></p> <p> What’s surprising is that the individual mandate was originally a conservative position.  The idea was that you shouldn’t skip insurance coverage and just show up at the ER expecting a freebie.  Never mind the cost of actually getting coverage.  Backed by the likes of former senator Robert Dole (R) Kansas and the conservative Heritage Foundation in the early 1990s among others, the mandate was viewed skeptically at that time by Democrats who wanted all employers to be required to provide insurance.  Years later Obama even spoke publicly against it when campaigning for president in 2008. </p> <p>  </p> <p> Embraced by Obama once he became president, the Republicans positioned the mandate as the federal government overreaching.  Whipping the Tea Party into a frenzy, the right labeled it as “ObamaCare.”  The problem is that Mitt Romney did the same thing for Massachusetts as governor.  “RomneyCare” will undoubtedly haunt him into the debates.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Speaker of the House John Boehner said on the CBS News June 29, 2012 that even though some of law’s provisions are good, like the ban on lifetime caps and preexisting conditions, he and his colleagues will move to repeal the act entirely.  “ObamaCare needs to be ripped out by its roots,” he said.</p> <p>  </p> <p> For all the talk of socialized medicine and government-run health care, the ACA is anything but.  Private insurers, private doctors, private hospitals, and private drug companies make up the bulk of our system.  Medicare may be a government insurance plan for the elderly, but we have an employer-based insurance system and retirees no longer work.  The doctors and hospitals that serve Medicare recipients are by and large private also.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The only fully government-run health care entity in the U.S. is the Veterans Administration, where hospital and doctors work for the government.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, the VA provides health care at little or no charge to more than 5 million veterans annually.   </p> <p>  </p> <p> It’s taken 100 years for the country to enact a heath care law that will at least move us toward universal coverage.  Teddy Roosevelt tried in 1912 to create a national health care system and failed.  Even with the ACA, the U.S. health care system is far from perfect.  But it is movement in the right direction.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Health care isn’t a product like a car or toaster you can do without.  Some day, every one will fall ill.  It’s just a fact of life.  Let’s hope that health care for all will one day also be a fact of life.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Mark Bizzell is a contributing writer at</em> Highbrow Magazine.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: NewsOne; Whitehouse.gov; CSPAN.</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-care" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health care</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/justice-john-roberts" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Justice John Roberts</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/supreme-court" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Supreme Court</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aca" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ACA</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obamacare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obamacare</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/president-obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">President Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/democrats" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Democrats</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/liberals" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">liberals</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/health-insurance" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">health insurance</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mitt-romney" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Mitt Romney</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/fox-news" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Fox News</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/united-heatlhcare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">United Heatlhcare</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cigna" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Cigna</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/erisa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ERISA</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mark Bizzell</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">NewsOne</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 08 Jul 2012 21:10:23 +0000 tara 1224 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1275-obama-justice-roberts-and-how-crucial-health-care-victory-will-affect-millions#comments