The Affordable Health Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare, became law in 2010. Has it affected our healthcare? If so, how? And what's to come? Let's determine where we are now compared to how we stood on health insurance in 2010.
Yes, Obamacare has had a big effect on our healthcare. Some of the provisions in effect are:
All these things happened under the law in 2010.
In January 2011, a provision of the law took effect to rein in health insurance costs. It requires that at least 80% of insurance premium dollars are spent on health care services and health care quality improvement. That's designed to keep the insurance companies from spending our premium dollars to give insurance executives big paychecks. If they do, they have to refund premiums to policyholders like employers and you and me.
Funding for new community health centers has resulted in the treatment of 20 million more citizens in the U.S. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts that the public's money saved by preventive care and early treatment will save Medicaid several times more than the cost of those centers. I haven't listed what the law mandates for the future, but I'll do that for you soon. Health is our most important asset.