Top 10 Problems with Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)
Suggested by SMSSince it was first signed into law by President Obama in March of 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been the topic of controversial discussion that has been criticized and argued over by millions of people. There is a long list of problems that people have emphasized over the past two years, but the list below only focuses on the top ten problems with the plan informally known as ObamaCare.
10. It Requires More Paperwork
Under the ObamaCare plan, all businesses are required to process 1099 tax forms for any business or contractor that they conduct $600 worth of business or commerce with. What does this mean? This means that a huge amount of money will need to be invested in costly new forms, especially for the various types of businesses that deal with hundreds of contractors and other companies through the year. Even though this aspect of the ObamaCare plan has been discussed, argued over and analyzed by both the House and Senate within Congress, they still remain at odds over the actual details of this obligation.
9. Requirement of Health Insurance Limits Freedom of Choice
One of the freedoms that Americans have enjoyed for centuries the freedom of choice that they have as citizens of this fine country. However, under the ObamaCare plan, that freedom is somewhat limited because they are now being required to obtain health insurance. There are undoubtedly many benefits to having health insurance as an individual but there are also many benefits to having many other things as well in life that Americans can freely decide whether or not they want to invest in those things. Health insurance has been one of those options on that long list of choices for many years, but has been officially removed from that list by the ObamaCare plan.
8. Elimination of Innovative Health Care Institutions
Specialty hospitals that are owned by physicians are one of the innovative strategies that were established in order to pioneer a new age and era for healthcare throughout the country and around the world. Unfortunately, though, the ObamaCare plan places an indefinite hold on this revolutionary innovation by eliminating them from the big picture of healthcare.
The American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals have wanted these institutions eliminated since they were first established, especially since it proposed a competitive alternative to patients continuing to rely on them. Those wishes came true within the ObamaCare plan because it prevents both the future establishment of new hospitals as well as the expansion of the ones already in existence.
7. Exponential Increase of People on Medicaid
Even though Medicaid is already overburdened in population and overall problems with its system internally, the ObamaCare plan will place more than 16 and 25 million more Americans throughout the country within the problematic world of Medicaid. It has been projected that 49 million more people will end up there by 2019. In whose hands does the responsibility of these provisions dwell? The governments of each individual state have to bear that responsibility, which means that their annual budgets will be greatly affected by this law.
6. Adverse Selection Is Ruined for Insurance Groups
By placing a ban on denying coverage because of pre-existing health conditions, the concept of adverse selection is ruined for insurance groups. That denial was put in place to protect the population of the people insured from not having to pay unreasonable premiums just to obtain adequate coverage and substantial benefits for that coverage. Since many high-risk applicants will now be required to have their applications approved, the average premium for all of the other applicants will have to rise.
5. Increase of Health Care Costs
The ObamaCare plan was implemented with the benefit in mind of being able to save money and costs overall. However, it has been confirmed through the US Department of Health and Human services that overall health care costs will increase over $200 billion through 2019. With such an exponential increase in money being spent, where are these savings that the ObamaCare plan is supposed to provide?
4. Increase of Insurance Premiums
As stated earlier, the ObamaCare plan results in the average insurance premium being increased and it is important to keep in mind that health insurance will be enforced as a mandatory condition for households throughout the country. Therefore, this is going to intensify the strain that is already present with household budgets to make sure that the members of their family are insured.
Most Americans already can’t afford health insurance because they are struggling just to pay all of their other required living expenses. The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the current premium rates (which many consider as already being too high) will rise between 10% and 13% between now and 2016, so it is definitely going to hit lower-income families the hardest. Many people that can afford health insurance are barely able to do so, but now will have to struggle and sacrifice even more to be able to continuously pay their increased rates. This creates a strain on family budgets. According to the Congressional Budget Office, premiums will rise between 10 and 13 % between now and 2016, affecting lower-income families the hardest.
3. Required Investment for Businesses That Can’t Afford the Investment
Under the provisions of the ObamaCare plan, all businesses will be required to provide health insurance for their employees. The major businesses that are already able to provide their employees with these benefits are not really affected negatively because of this requirement. The increased rates create a potential loss of employer-sponsored health benefits for over 20 million Americans by 2019. Nevertheless, the bigger problem comes into the picture when the millions of business that cannot afford to provide this insurance are considered.
ObamaCare requires these businesses to continuously pay these expenses that they cannot afford, with mandatory penalties that could nationally equate to hundreds of billions through 2022 that will have to be paid if this requirement is not followed. In this economy, it’s hard enough for small businesses to remain in business. This requirement is only helping them to close their doors permanently much sooner.
2. Decrease of Current Jobs
Businesses that have to close their doors and shut down their operations because of not being able meet the requirements enforced by ObamaCare will leave their employee without work. Hundreds of thousands of jobs that people have had for years (even decades) will become downsized and eliminated, leaving millions of people looking for work. The 2011 CBO report reflects that more than 800,000 jobs will be eliminated by 2020 because of ObamaCare, even though this decrease something that Obama assured the country would not take place.
1. Puts The Country In More Debt
One of the many benefits that President Obama explained when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was first enacted was the fact that the plan would save the country money in the long run even though it may not seem that way at first. However, studies and analyses have confirmed that the ObamaCare plan will not save money or make cuts to the country’s current deficit. It has actually been projected that the requirements of the ObamaCare plan will actually add $1 trillion to the National Debt over the next several years.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions and feelings when it comes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Nonetheless, since the Supreme Court has passed the ruling that the act is constitutional, it is definitely something that we are all going to have to live with and live through. Regardless of how many benefits you may be able to list from the implementation of this plan within our nation, it is clear that saving Americans money is not going to be on that list.
