[su_box title=”Keep in mind…” style=”default”]
- The Affordable Health Care Act, known as Obamacare, has been reviewed by the Supreme Court over 50 times
- The Court ruled for the plan since no other plan was available as a standardized insurance option
- Obamacare is scheduled to be replaced
[/su_box]
There is a lot of discussion about Obamacare and the problems associated with it in the health insurance industry. Many people are looking to other options as Obamacare is predicted to experience a “meltdown” at the end of the year or sooner.
It is interesting to look at the prior history of Obamacare and see what transitions it went through in the past. One way to do this is to look at the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Obamacare.
Click here to explore private healthcare options that will keep you covered while the federal healthcare system is at work. Enter your zip code in the box above to get started!
Supreme Court Decisions on Obamacare
On June 25, 2015, Obamacare reached the Supreme Court where it ruled by a 6-3 vote that subsidies were legal. The main issue as to why it reached the Supreme Court was whether Obamacare could uphold its statute that allows people to receive subsidies on the part of those who had purchased a plan through healthcare.gov. This Supreme Court decision came on the heels of the King v. Burwell Ruling that had argued subsidies obtained through Obamacare were illegal.
In the 6-3 consenting decision, the Supreme Court stated that, “Obamacare remains the law of the land,” and that the IRS was legally able to issue subsidies. The Court also stated that the IRS was able to issue such subsidies to Obamacare participants and that this was legal.
Attempts to Repeal Obamacare
The fact that the case made it to the Supreme Court indicated that there were previous attempts to repeal Obamacare on different grounds over the years that Obama was in office. In short, no one was ever really happy with the plan.
This ruling by the nation’s highest court allowed Obamacare to stand despite the controversy surrounding it, and the statutes were ruled to be Constitutional.
Two major Supreme Court lawsuits brought Obamacare to the high court’s attention. The first one was NFIB v. Sebelius, in which the Supreme Court upheld subsidies in 2012, then the King v. Burwell ruling which we mentioned above.
The Hobby Lobby Lawsuit
The Hobby Lobby lawsuit involved a requirement that pushed employers to provide contraceptive coverage that was present in Obamacare. Several lawsuits were brought forth around the same period. One of them was brought by the Michigan Catholic Conference, and the court ruled for the plaintiff.
There were numerous attempts to change some of the statutes of Obamacare or to repeal it due to some of the controversial issues that these cases brought before the Court.
Multiple Cases Brought Forward
The Supreme Court, under the Obama administration, repeatedly voted to keep Obamacare in place, even though there were many different lawsuits (more than 50) brought from various groups and individuals that challenged its validity for different reasons.
In 2012, the Supreme Court had upheld ObamaCare in a final ruling by Supreme Court Justice Vinson. He ruled that ObamaCare was not a mandate but a tax and was declared constitutional.
Obamacare Defeats Medicaid
Vinson’s ruling allowed states to opt out of Medicaid, which was appealing to some states that had economic setbacks due to Medicaid funding. It also seemed to solve the problem of offering a solution to 5.9 million people who previously could not afford health insurance.
The Future of ObamaCare
The Court, on its final ruling, stated that “Obamacare remains the rule of the land today, but if the issue of Obamacare is brought before the Court again, the next case may be its last.”
The frustrations exhibited about ObamaCare and the Affordable Care Act was felt by some individuals, organizations, and states due to its multitude of problems that came up as a result of the policy.
The Court, also, expressed its exasperation for the issues that they often had to deal with due to the problems that were inherent with the Affordable Health Care Act. It was predicted with the final decision 2015, that ObamaCare might be destined to falter with time due to the different problems that have been brought forward about the Act.
Is the Affordable Care Act really affordable?
One thing that kept coming up over the course of these multiple court cases was the fact that ObamaCare, despite its various attempts to be a blanket insurance solution for a multitude of people, fell short of delivering on its promise to be affordable.
In 2017, new President Donald Trump has promised to replace Obamacare with a new system that is currently being called the American Health Care Act.
The main problem with ObamaCare was that, while it seemed to save money for people on the front end, the end of the term under a policy always resulted in inflated premiums. This was due, in part, to the fact that insurers simply could not afford to offer such high payouts and low premiums as was dictated by Obama through the medical cooperatives in various states.
Many states are now reporting that they are being required to pay out so much to patients that they had to leave ObamaCare to survive. Humana is one example of this.
Humana reported that they are pulling out of Obamacare effective February 2017 due to the rising costs of being in the system.
Trump’s New Health Care Act
President Trump’s new American Health Care Act is intended to replace Obamacare and “dismantle Obamacare taxes, replace the individual and employer mandate fees, prohibit health insurers from denying coverage” and “help young adults access health insurance and stabilize the marketplace” among other things (American Health Care Act).
The bill still has to pass through both the House and Senate to be approved, which has previously been blocked by all Democrats and some GOP Republicans.
But Trump stated that he was optimistic that they could work out the details soon that would outline the points and that it offered more positive choice to everyone involved.
How to Find Health Insurance Now
While you are waiting to see what will happen with these new options, you can do some research and shop around a bit to compare plans. The best health care for you and your family should include a good pharmaceutical plan for prescription drugs, the ability to keep or find your doctor, and more flexible in plan details.
Shop and compare on this site to get started and ask for a free quote. Sometimes you have to try out a few of the plans first to see what they include. Ask questions if you don’t understand something and look for a plan that offers the most options in your health care plan for the least money.
The Future of Health Insurance
There’s no doubt that health care costs will continue to rise. But having adequate coverage outside of the faltering ObamaCare is the best start you can take to get what you need in health insurance.
While we cannot know all of the details of the new health care plan yet, based on his other current policies, you can expect to see a plan that allows more personal freedom of choice and more ways to save money for the working family.
Health care certainly should be affordable. But, even the Supreme Court agrees that The Affordable Health Care Act was not affordable in the end. Click here to compare free quotes and find a private health insurance plan you can afford until America’s federal coverage becomes more accessible.
[su_spoiler title=”References:” icon=”caret-square” style=”fancy” open=”yes”]
- https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/us/obamacare-supreme-court.html?_r=0
- http://healthcare.gov
- http://obamacarefacts.com/supreme-court-obamacare/
- http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/a-guide-to-the-supreme-courts-decision/
- https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/affordable-care-act/
- http://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/how-to-find-low-cost-health-insurance#1
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Health_Care_Act_of_2017
- http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/14/news/economy/humana-obamacare-insurer/
- https://housegop.leadpages.co/healthcare/
- http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/04/news/economy/obamacare-affordable/
[/su_spoiler]