Question

Has Affordable Health Care Act been effectively implemented? Are provisions related to the individual mandate (imposing penalties on individuals that would not buy insurance) fully implemented? Do we have sufficient information/robust data that would indicate as to the impact of the individual mandate on the demand side?

Please cite your sources.

Answer 1

Affordable Health Care Act

Individual mandate

• Least popular element of Affordable Care Act
• Americans need to purchase a private health insurance plan; else they pay a tax penalty
• Individual mandate requires all Americans to have a health insurance plan
• Most controversial, and, least popular part of ACA
• For those below the age of 27, it could be through an employer;
• From the Government, it is through Medicare or Mediaid
• It is in effect for 2018, it has been repealed by the Republican Tax Bill, beginning 2019
• ACA made health care more accessible to low-income people
• People with disabilities—helping estimated11.7 million people, as of May 2015
• It helped 2.3 million American adults in the first 3 years
• Even in case of pre-existing condition, insurance providers cannot deny coverage
• Uninsured rates have come down from 15.7% to 10.4%; more than 16 million Americans are now insured

• Unsubsidized individuals will be driven out of the market
• As healthy individuals exit, tax bill will cause premiums on exchanges to increase, as healthy individuals exit
• Many will buy less-expensive, stripped-down policies
• 75% of those who buy subsidized federal insurance will still get affordable plans
• The demand for subsidized insurance on these exchanges will increase
• For subsidized insurance, Insurance firms will see high demand
• With no competition, Obamacare insurers may be monopolies
• Profitability will increase
• Exchanges will turn into zombies with high-cost coverage; these will not be able to serve their purpose