The Harry Potter Alliance

The Affordable Care Act and What It Means to America

Last Wednesday, Becky told us about how much the Affordable Care Act could affect people who have long been discriminated against by the health care system for things like ‘pre-existing conditions.’

Today, we have some momentous news to relate: the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act essentially in its entirety. More on that below.

This has huge implications for all Americans. The Act itself is massive, and there’s a lot going on in it that is going to affect us all.

Here’s some key points you should know:

• By 2014, there will no longer by any such thing as “pre-existing conditions,” which will be a huge thing for people like Becky.
• It forbids insurance companies from dropping people because they get sick, or from placing a ‘lifetime cap’ on people that prevents them from getting health care because they’ve spent too much already.
• It creates an appeals process for when an insurance claim is turned down.
• It requires all health care plans to cover preventative care (like mammograms, colonoscopies, and contraception), without any co-pay or charge.
• It will increase the number of people who can apply for medicare and medicaid, and widen the number of places that accept it.
• Young adults under 26 can be covered under their parent’s insurance, which stops the gap many face in insurance coverage when looking for work right after college.
• The big one is that it will require all adults to either buy insurance or pay a tax, unless they’re exempted for religious beliefs or financial hardship. This was one of the big changes, as this was previously seen as a penalty. Also, if you are under a certain income, this doesn’t apply to you. For more in the difference, you should visit scotusblog.com as they have a lot of great details on the decision.

Of course, there’s a lot more to it, but those are the big points that you’ll probably hear others talking about it the coming days and weeks. If you want to know more, here’s a whole article on the history and progress of the bill, and here’s a quick rundown of the various sections and when they come into effect. As you can see, it’s an impressive list of achievements, and it is about to change the face of American health care in a lot of exciting ways.

My sister has a congenital heart defect, which up until now has meant that in many states she could be completely denied coverage. This act is changing all that, how will it affect you and your family? Tell us in the comments below!