Americans just voted in the midterm election of 2010. One of the biggest issues in this election was, of course, health insurance. The election may be over, but the battle over health insurance continues!
In short, Democratic candidates expressed interest in continuing with the changes to health insurance that have been referred to as the Affordable Care Act, or as “Obamacare”. In general, Republican candidates have stated their interest in preventing changes to how health insurance works, as well as reversing some of the laws that have been passed that affect health insurance companies.
The question on everyone’s mind is: Can the Republicans kill the health care reforms? If they can, how will this affect the consumers who have benefited from some of these new changes? Many Republican candidates won the the election specifically because of the promises they made to stop health care reform. However, this might not be so easy after all.
Many consumers have already experienced some good things due to the changes in health care. People who had pre-existing conditions and could not get accepted for health insurance in the past are now able to get the health insurance they need. Adults who are between the age of 18 and 26 can be covered under their parent’s health insurance. This allows a lot of young people who would otherwise be unable to be approved for health insurance to be covered. There are steps being taken that will close the infamous Medicare “doughnut hole” that affects senior citizens. Consumers feel relief that insurance companies are no longer allowed to drop them the instant the consumer get sick. American citizens who are finally getting the help they need with health insurance are not going to want to lose these beneficial changes.
Instead of attempting to erase all of the effects of the Affordable Care Act, Republicans may instead try to reverse the parts that they do not like, while keeping the parts that are popular with many consumers. They would like to change or eliminate the requirement for employers to cover the cost of health insurance for their employees, because they feel it would prevent the creation of new jobs. There are a lot of people who are concerned about being required to purchase health insurance in 2014. It is possible that Republicans will fight against this law. It is unclear if “cherry picking” the Affordable Care Act will actually work, in practice. What is clear is that health insurance is going to get very interesting in the near future!
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