What’s in it for us?
The Affordable Care Act or more commonly known ObamaCare is here and yet most of us college students and young adults have no idea what it is going to do for us. When I asked students what they knew about Obamacare most didn’t know. Most of us based our feelings about ObamaCare on what our parents think or what our political party thinks about it.
I did some research and made my own opinion by reading information from the Huffington post and from Healthcare.gov website. What I found out is that even though a majority of college students either don’t have an opinion or don’t know to have an opinion we are the most affected by this act.
From what I found the pros are:
1) Coverage by insurance companies to people with preexisting conditions. Yes, we lived in a world where insurance companies wouldn’t cover people who have had cancer, have MS, even children with epilepsy! But now, because of Obamacare insurance companies can’t do that they have to cover you with some sort of plan.
2) The insurance marketplace, which is on the website where you can compare and decide what insurance is best for your needs if you can’t find an insurance that is affordable for you.
3) Young adults between the ages of 18-26 can stay on our parent’s insurance plans! This is possibly my favorite quality of Obamacare because the national average for the drop off age on a young adult from their parents insurance was 22. Most insurances require proof that a child was pursuing a high education and even then the child had to be single so if you got married you were kick off. Now, you can be married, financially stable, and even qualify for insurance at your place of employment and you will still qualify to be on your parents insurance. And what’s even better is that we can leave their insurance and then come back so if you want to switch to your own but end up not liking it or not being able to afford it you can switch back until your 26 years old!
The cons are:
1) When we leave our parents insurances or if we are looking for a new one we have to stay within our insurances doctors’ network. This network is based on your plan, insurance company, and how much you make. Your insurance company only has so many types of doctors you can see and depending on how much you make.
2) Family doctors you used to see before Obamacare may not be in your new network or plan. This really puts people in a bad mood when they find out that the family doctor they have been seeing since they were 12 can no longer be their doctor. Honestly, it’s not the best idea in my opinion.
3) The cost of health insurance is going to rise nationwide. This is true because not only will the taxes go up to fund the Obamacare health insurance reform, but because of it being mandatory for insurance companies to accept people the premiums will go up to support the people that the insurance companies will have to cover. Those such as people with preexisting conditions.
4) You have to pay a fee if you don’t have healthcare after January 2014. And since last week made this impossible for most of us college students if we aren’t on our parents insurance we have a hefty fee coming our way.
Find out what side of the fence you want to be one. I know that there are parts I like and parts I don’t. Gather information for yourself. Do what the youth of America is supposed to do, rally around a cause, support a side, and get involved because this is our world. And this is our America it will only stay that way if we make it.