preview

The Background Of The Affordable Care Act

Decent Essays

Affordable Care Act Background: Healthcare insurance is an important benefit everyone should have, but before the “Affordable Care Act,” health insurance was too expensive for families to pay for. Those who could afford the high cost would need to be in an excellent health state before any insurance company would accept to be their healthcare coverage provider. Meaning that individuals who already had a preexisting medical condition would be denied by insurance companies, which made it tough to get coverage without being extremely healthy. In March 2010, the healthcare reform law known as Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as “Obamacare” was enacted. One of the goals of ACA is to make healthcare insurance that is affordable to more …show more content…

It has selected 13 health insurance companies to offer individual plans in the exchange. ACA requires that the policies are assigned in four levels and that each insurance provider has at least a policy in each level. In the bronze level the insurance provider covers 60 percent of the cost, in the silver level the insurer covers 70 percent of the cost, in the gold level they cover 80 percent of the cost, and in the platinum level the insurer covers 90 percent of the costs.
The Mandate: The Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate requires that any eligible American obtains and maintains, at least minimum essential coverage, monthly health insurance plan or to pay a tax penalty, called an Individual Shared Responsibility Payment. This mandate was put into effect at the beginning of January 2014 and will continue yearly. Those who do are not covered by a health insurance each month of the year will have to pay a penalty at the time of their Federal Income Tax Returns for each month they did not have insurance unless they are qualified for an exemption. The penalty would be reported on line 61 of the IRS 1040 form. Americans should keep in mind that this penalty for not having health insurance each month through out the year increases each year (Obamacare Facts). If the taxable income is below the filing threshold then the person would be exempt from this tax. In essence, the Affordable Care Act was implemented due to many Americans being unable to see a

Get Access