This was great, the only one of these that isn't an enormous Democrat wank.
Until I saw 86% of Americans favoring Obamacare. Not likely.
But other than that, good.
Only 86% of people approving of it was being generous to the anti-obamacare crowd, especially after most of the provisions that go into affect in 2013 and 2014 have already been activated in ATL.
Here's a list of all the stuff that has yet to go into affect OTL, but will go into affect in the future (meaning they've already happened ATL but there's still more to come in 2017)
Effective by August 1, 2012
[edit] Effective by January 1, 2013
- All new plans must cover certain preventive services such as mammograms and colonoscopies without charging a deductible, co-pay or coinsurance. Women's Preventive Services – including well-woman visits, support for breastfeeding equipment, contraception and domestic violence screening – will be covered without cost sharing.
[edit] Effective by January 1, 2014
- Income from self-employment and wages of single individuals in excess of $200,000 annually will be subject to an additional tax of 0.9%. The threshold amount is $250,000 for a married couple filing jointly (threshold applies to joint compensation of the two spouses), or $125,000 for a married person filing separately.[79] In addition, an additional tax of 3.8% will apply to the lesser of net investment income or the amount by which adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 for a married couple filing jointly; $125,000 for a married person filing separately.)[80]
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Maximum Out-of-Pocket Premium Payments Under PPACA by Family Size and federal poverty level.[17] (Source: CRS)
Health Insurance Premiums and Cost Sharing under PPACA for average family of 4.[17][98][99][100]Income % of federal poverty levelPremium Cap as a Share of IncomeIncome $ (family of 4)aMax Annual Out-of-Pocket PremiumPremium SavingsbAdditional Cost-Sharing Subsidy133%3% of income$31,900$992$10,345$5,040150%4% of income$33,075$1,323$9,918$5,040200%6.3% of income$44,100$2,778$8,366$4,000250%8.05% of income$55,125$4,438$6,597$1,930300%9.5% of income$66,150$6,284$4,628$1,480350%9.5% of income$77,175$7,332$3,512$1,480400%9.5% of income$88,200$8,379$2,395$1,480
- Insurers are prohibited from discriminating against or charging higher rates for any individuals based on pre-existing medical conditions.[44][81]
- Impose an annual penalty of $95, or up to 1% of income, whichever is greater, on individuals who do not secure insurance; this will rise to $695, or 2.5% of income, by 2016. This is an individual limit; families have a limit of $2,085.[23][82] Exemptions to the fine in cases of financial hardship or religious beliefs are permitted.[23]
- Insurers are prohibited from establishing annual spending caps.[44]
- Expand Medicaid eligibility; all individuals with income up to 133% of the poverty line qualify for coverage, including adults without dependent children.[23][83]
- Two years of tax credits will be offered to qualified small businesses. In order to receive the full benefit of a 50% premium subsidy, the small business must have an average payroll per full time equivalent ("FTE") employee, excluding the owner of the business, of less than $25,000 and have fewer than 11 FTEs. The subsidy is reduced by 6.7% per additional employee and 4% per additional $1,000 of average compensation. As an example, a 16 FTE firm with a $35,000 average salary would be entitled to a 10% premium subsidy.[84]
- Impose a $2,000 per employee tax penalty on employers with more than 50 employees who do not offer health insurance to their full-time workers (as amended by the reconciliation bill).[85]
- Set a maximum of $2,000 annual deductible for a plan covering a single individual or $4,000 annual deductible for any other plan (see 111HR3590ENR, section 1302). These limits can be increased under rules set in section 1302.
- The CLASS Act provision would have created a voluntary long-term care insurance program, but in October 2011 the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the provision was unworkable and would be dropped, although an Obama administration official later said the President does not support repealing this provision.[86][87][88][89]
- Pay for new spending, in part, through spending and coverage cuts in Medicare Advantage, slowing the growth of Medicare provider payments (in part through the creation of a new Independent Payment Advisory Board), reducing Medicare and Medicaid drug reimbursement rate, cutting other Medicare and Medicaid spending.[46][90]
- Revenue increases from a new $2,500 limit on tax-free contributions to flexible spending accounts (FSAs), which allow for payment of health costs.[91]
- Establish health insurance exchanges, and subsidization of insurance premiums for individuals in households with income up to 400% of the poverty line. To qualify for the subsidy, the beneficiaries cannot be eligible for other acceptable coverage.[92][83][93][94] Section 1401(36B) of PPACA explains that the subsidy will be provided as an advanceable, refundable tax credit[95] and gives a formula for its calculation.[96] Refundable tax credit is a way to provide government benefit to people even with no tax liability[97] (example: Earned Income Credit). The formula was changed in the amendments (HR 4872) passed March 23, 2010, in section 1001. According to DHHS and CRS, in 2014 the income-based premium caps for a "silver" healthcare plan for family of four would be the following:
a.^ Note: In 2016, the FPL is projected to equal about $11,800 for a single person and about $24,000 for family of four.[101][102] See Subsidy Calculator for specific dollar amount.[103]
b.^ DHHS and CBO estimate the average annual premium cost in 2014 to be $11,328 for family of 4 without the reform.[98]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on August 12, 2011, issued joint proposed rules regarding implementation of new state-based health insurance exchanges to cover how the exchanges will determine eligibility for uninsured individuals and employees of small businesses seeking to buy insurance on the exchanges, as well as how the exchanges will handle eligibility determinations for low-income individuals applying for newly expanded Medicaid benefits.[100][104][105][106]
[edit] Effective by January 1, 2015
- Members of Congress and their staff will only be offered health care plans through the exchange or plans otherwise established by the bill (instead of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program that they currently use).[107]
- A new excise tax goes into effect that is applicable to pharmaceutical companies and is based on the market share of the company; it is expected to create $2.5 billion in annual revenue.[82]
- Most medical devices become subject to a 2.3% excise tax collected at the time of purchase. (Reduced by the reconciliation act to 2.3% from 2.6%)[108]
- Health insurance companies become subject to a new excise tax based on their market share; the rate gradually raises between 2014 and 2018 and thereafter increases at the rate of inflation. The tax is expected to yield up to $14.3 billion in annual revenue.[82]
- The qualifying medical expenses deduction for Schedule A tax filings increases from 7.5% to 10% of earned income.[109]
- Physicians' payment will be modified to be based on the quality of care, not the volume.
All information from Wikipedia. Specifically here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obamacare
By the way, in case anyone is wondering how the Supreme Court ruled ATL, they ruled that the entire Healthcare law was constitutional... except for the individual mandate.