Question

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What do you think about the Affordable Care Act? Should it be amended in any way?  In your opinion will it be a good or bad thing in terms of controlling health care costs?  Will it have an impact on your personal health care costs?

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Answer 1

The Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare was designed to extend health insurance coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. It was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. A major overhaul of the U.S. health-care system, Obamacare aims to reduce the amount of uncompensated care the average U.S. family pays for by requiring everyone to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

ACA's major provisions came into force in 2014. It should be amended anyway.

In my opinion, it will be good im controlling health care cost. The law includes premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions to help lower costs for lower-income individuals and families.Premium tax credits lower your health insurance bill each month. Cost-sharing reductions lower your out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. They also lower your out-of-pocket maximum—the total amount you pay in a year for covered health expenses.

Yes, It have impact on health care cost.

The cause of rising health care costs is an epidemic of preventable diseases. The four leading causes of death are heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and stroke. Chronic health conditions cause most of them. They can either be prevented or would cost less to treat if caught in time. Risk factors for heart disease and strokes are poor nutrition and obesity. Smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer (the most common type) and COPD. Obesity is also a risk factor for the other common forms of cancer. These diseases cost more than $5,000 per person.30 31 The average cost of treating diabetes, for example, is $9,601 per person.

Obamacare's goal is to reduce these costs. First, it required insurance companies to provide preventive care for free.38 That treats chronic conditions before they required expensive hospital emergency room treatments. It also reduced payments to Medicare Advantage insurers.39

Since 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was signed, health care costs rose by 4.3% a year. It achieved its goal of lowering the growth rate of health care spending.40

In 2010, the government predicted that Medicare costs would rise 20% in just five years. That’s from $12,376 per beneficiary in 2014 to $14,913 by 2019. Instead, analysts were shocked to find out spending had dropped by $1,000 per person, to $11,167 by 2014.