Question

Explain some of the misconceptions or misunderstandings the general population might have about the ACA.

Answer 1

• 1.Health Care Reform is not socialized medicine, nor a federal takeover:-The ACA,in its simplest form – guarantees every American the right to buy health insurance and creates Marketplaces (or Exchanges) to make that purchase more understandable and more affordable. Socialized Medicine is a system in which the government is the “single payer”, controlling all the participants of the health care system.
• Doctors can still practice in independent offices.There is no federal takeover. To be sure, the federal government has a role. The ACA is, after all, an Act of Congress. But this is no “one-size-fits-all-states” system.
• 2.The health reform law will allow a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life-care for people on Medicare:-No such panels exist. While early versions of the law did contain provisions that would allow Medicare to reimburse physicians for voluntary discussions with patients about end-of-life planning, these provisions were dropped from the final legislation.
• 3.The health reform law will cut benefits that were previously provided to all people on Medicare:-The law reduces payments to the privately administered Medicare Advantage plans, but they will still be required to provide all benefits that are covered by traditional Medicare.