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| Flickr CC by Cast A Line |
The Affordable Care
Act (ACA), a major pillar of President Obama’s first term in office, is proving
to be more difficult to implement than the administration had hoped. The White House announced this week that the
mandate for employers to provide insurance will be delayed for one year while
the government sorts out any confusion.
The strangeness in
the case of ACA, or Obamacare as it is commonly called, is that is actually
affects a very small percentage of businesses and individuals. The mandate requires that employers with
fifty or more employees must provide health care benefits. The rule, therefore, only applies to about 5%
of the number of businesses, and many of them are big companies that already
provide benefits. The tiny number left
that would be affected, are making a lot of noise about it. Health care is very expensive for low wage
employers like restaurants and retailers, and many small businesses will
struggle with the cost adjustments. The
regulations for determining taxation status for healthcare is also quite
complicated, and has caused a lot of stress, in particular for seasonal
businesses. The administration notes the
calculations as the major reason for the delay.
For individuals, it gets even more muddied. Anyone
without health insurance face a tax penalty.
However, a vast majority of the workforce is covered by employers. Anyone making less than $45,000 a year is
either exempt from the penalty or subsidized.
If an individual cannot find insurance that is lower than eight percent
of income, or if they are experiencing financial hardship, they can also seek
to be excused. Also, people receiving
insurance at work will most likely not be eligible to participate in the state
run e
xchanges that will take place in January, even if the person is being
charged high premiums.
While the law is
giving significant benefits to people with preexisting conditions and college
aged children who can stay on their parents’ plan, the law will continue to
stumble as the long list of regulations come into sight. Be on the lookout for some healthcare hurdles.
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| The healthcare bill stirs up a lot of emotion. Photo by Andrew Aliferis via Flickr CC |
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