Obamacare Fact Sheet

Low-cost, consumer-friendly, market-driven, walk-in health care clinics can be found in retail stores like Walgreens, CVS, and Wal-Mart. Retailers are setting up the clinics, which provide affordable health care, throughout the country.

The Affordable Care Act: Secure Health Coverage for the Middle Class

Staff Reports

The Supreme Court’s June 28 decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act protects every American from the worst insurance company abuses. The law was designed to give states the resources and flexibility they need while ensuring that the nation implements the law in a non-bureaucratic way that works for the middle class.

In North Carolina, Governor Bev Perdue said, “This morning’s Supreme Court ruling will be welcome news for the approximately 95,000 young people ages 19 to 25 who will be able to stay on their family’s health insurance plan because of this law.

It’s welcome news for the approximately 539,000 North Carolina children with preexisting medical conditions, because this law prevents insurance companies from denying these children coverage.

“And it’s welcome news for women in North Carolina, who will get preventative health services, like cervical cancer screenings, mammograms, well-woman visits and domestic violence screenings; for seniors, who will benefit from a stronger Medicare and from more affordable prescription drugs; and for families, who will no longer have to worry constantly about having their coverage canceled or about being harmed by lifetime caps on patient care.”

The ACA (“Obamacare”) includes numerous provisions to keep healthcare costs low, promote prevention, and hold insurance companies accountable. For the 250 million Americans who already have health care through private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, the new law makes the following provisions:

• Insurance companies no longer have unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny your child coverage due to a pre-existing condition, or charge women more than men.

• More than 86 million Americans have gained preventive care free of charge, like mammograms for women and wellness visits for seniors.

• Nearly 13 million Americans will receive a rebate this summer because their insurance company spent too much of their premium dollars on administrative costs or CEO bonuses.

• The law has already helped 5.3 million seniors and people with disabilities save an average of over $600 on prescription drugs in the “donut hole” in Medicare coverage.

• The law strengthens and protects Medicare by fighting fraud.

• The law has helped 6.6 million young adults who have been able to stay on their parents’ plans until the age of 26, including 3.1 million young people who are newly insured.

For the 30 million Americans who don’t yet have health insurance, starting in 2014 the ACA will offer an array of quality, affordable, private health insurance plans to choose from. Among the required benefits of the new law are:

Coverage for Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions

Starting in 2014, insurance companies can no longer charge more, carve out benefits, or deny coverage altogether because of an existing condition, whether cancer or diabetes or simply being a woman. To make these protections affordable, people with and without pre-existing conditions should be insured, since everyone at some time needs health care.

Tax Credits for Middle Class Families and Small Businesses

Millions of Americans will soon be eligible for tax credits to ensure that their health insurance is affordable. Under today’s ruling, having health insurance is and will continue to be a choice. Starting in 2014, those who can’t afford insurance, and small business owners who want to provide affordable insurance to employees, will be eligible for tax credits that make coverage affordable. (When the Act takes full effect, about 18 million individuals and families will get tax credits for health insurance coverage averaging about $4,000 apiece.) But those who can afford insurance and choose not to purchase it will no longer be subsidized by other taxpayers; they will be assessed a tax penalty to cover the costs of uninsured care.

Support for State Implementation of Affordable Insurance Exchanges

Affordable Insurance Exchanges are new marketplaces, starting in 2014, that will allow individuals and small businesses to compare and choose among private health plans. Each state that chooses to do so will take the lead in designing its own menu of options; residents of states that choose not to set up their own exchanges will be able to choose from a nationally established exchange.

Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have received 100-percent federally funded grants to build exchanges. Starting in 2017 states can also implement their own brand of reform through Innovation Waivers. If states can develop better ways of covering people at the same quality and low cost, this law allows them to do so, and the Obama Administration supports bipartisan legislation to allow states to start such waivers in 2014.