Believe it or not, the Affordable Care Act turns one year old today, March 23, 2011. This is either a cause for celebration, or an opportunity to point out changes that still need to take place, depending on your own, personal, political leanings. In many ways, this particular series of health reform regulations never quite moved out of the spotlight of public attention, despite how long it has been since it was first signed.
This week, there will be over 200 gatherings taking place celebrating the Affordable Care Act, and emphasizing the benefits that American’s have received from it. Around 12,500 Americans have joined the high risk pools, and, as a result, have been able to be approved for health insurance. This group is made up of people who had pre-existing conditions that would have made it difficult for them to be approved for health insurance before the Affordable Care Act existed.
Young adults, (who are between the ages of 18 and 26), were able to get health insurance coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act, because they were able to be covered under their parent’s health insurance policies. Some are seeing the first birthday of this series of health care reforms as a victory, especially considering how many court cases have questioned it’s constitutionality.
On the other hand, those who are against the Affordable Care Act might take this opportunity to point out it’s failings. The Act also forbid insurance companies from refusing to provide coverage for sick children, which is a very good intention. However, the immediate result was that insurance companies who offered child-only policies elected to cease selling those, in order to avoid the requirement of the law. This has since been rectified, but it was a problem for quite some time.
There is still, one year later, quite a bit of uproar regarding the unpopular requirement that all Americans must purchase health insurance in 2014. This is what most of the lawsuits that have been filed are focusing on. This specific piece of the Affordable Care Act is, by far, the most controversial part. It’s been questioned about it’s constitutionality, and also if it violates people’s freedom of religion. Nobody seems to like the idea of being forced to buy insurance, or being required to pay a fine if one fails to do so. It doesn’t really seem to matter to most people if they think they will have a use for health insurance, or not.
Right now, we have one group of lawmakers who are working towards helping states to set up health insurance exchanges, and who are offering exemptions to businesses so they can continue to offer their employees health insurance that doesn’t meet the new minimum requirements. We also have another group of lawmakers who are trying to dismantle pieces of the Affordable Care Act, and who have already repealed parts of it.
Image by Mark Tee on Flickr