I was born, raised and live in the U.K. I am 24 years old. I remember, on the face of things, Obamacare being a step forward for the shenanigans which is the U.S. healthcare system. But, I often see posts stating it failed. Someone please explain 🙂
I hold our NHS in high regard. I cannot imagine a healthcare system which can leave people who have worked, paid taxes for 30 years+ and are all round good citizens in financial ruins. What exactly is Obamacare and why do people say it failed?
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It’s a giant blow job to the insurance companies, essentially, though it does have a few good things peppered in for us regular folk.
Pre existing conditions being covered is one. Maximum out of pocket limits is another. A standard expectation of care across insurance plans, as well.
But really, it just forced Americans to buy into a very broken system, and there have been some unintended consequences. Deductibles have gone up (the amount we have to pay before insurance really kicks in), as have co-pays (what we have to pay when going to the doctor, emergency, etc just to be seen) and premiums (the amount we pay monthly just to have the honor of being insured), but honestly, that had already been a huge problem for years and part of why this happened.
Personally, this year, I am incredibly thankful for Obamacare. I had to have surgery, and spent time at two separate hospitals. My bills are north of $125,00, but thanks to the maximum out of pocket provision, I “only” owe 7-9k (not entirely clear yet) where pre ACA (Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as it’s also known as), it’d be a *much higher* percentage of that $125,000….
ETA: there’s also what is called in network and out of network, and the in network maximum for an individual this year is $7150, while the out of network maximum is around $14,000. This is why I owe between 7-9k. $7150 is due to the first hospital for in network services, but some of the doctors and a couple of the tests were “out of network” meaning they don’t have an agreement with my insurance company and aren’t part of the “network.” I have little or no say about this…
There are also many treatments that are considered experimental or unproven, which insurance can just refuse to pay for. The instances of people ending up with hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical debt are lower today than pre ACA, but they are hardly entirely gone. Your insurance may also just refuse to pay for certain treatments, forcing out of pocket expenses.
The ACA was a step forward in some ways, but still forcing us to work within a very broken for profit system that can and often does bankrupt people, deny treatments, be unaffordable from the get go, etc.
For example, I pay ~$200 a month for my health insurance. The family plan at my company, though, for employee, spouse, and children, is about $1100 a month, one full paycheck for many of the staff….
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