Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Mandate

The historic 5-4 decision will affect the way Americans receive and pay for their personal medical care.  How will the new Health Care bill affect you?   Well, that depends where you fall.

Here are some interesting stats: 

• There were 49.9 million uninsured Americans in 2010. That’s 16.3% of the total population.
• About 28%of Americans who are 25 to 34 are without insurance.
• 7.3 million U.S. children go without health insurance, 9.8% of all children in the country.
• 15.4% of children living in poverty who are uninsured.
• 26.9% of people earning less than $25,000 a year are uninsured.
• There are about 95 million people in the U.S. covered by government health insurance, or 31% of the population.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, those who buy their own insurance privately could face higher prices: up to 13% higher for a family policy. The increase would be less for an individual policy.

Currently, about 169.3 million Americans get their insurance through the workplace. They are the largest insured group in the country, and they’re probably also the least affected. The average American probably won’t see big changes in either cost or coverage from your employer-sponsored health insurance – at least not right away.

Employers who have more than 50 employees and do not currently offer health insurance will have to change their business principles if they want to avoid a fine. Employers with fewer than 50 employees will not be penalized, but will be encouraged to offer coverage by tax breaks.

The new healthcare policies consists of significant points, including adding more than 30 million people to insurance pools and removing lifetime limits. These changes will be in effect in 2014, and hopefully these decisions will take America in the right direction.

Some highlights of the new bill are:

People with pre-existing conditions will receive coverage.
Health care reform means that children will have access to medical insurance including those who have pre-existing conditions. Adults with pre-existing conditions will also be able to have insurance coverage through high-risk pools. These insurance pools will be run by states and will limit the amount of money that you have to personally pay for medical insurance.

Children can stay on their parents’ plan longer.
Adults under the age of 26 can stay on their parents’ plan. Previously, adults 19 and over had to find their own insurance policy if they were not enrolled in college. Now, adult children that are financially dependent upon their parents can stay on their parents’ policy.

Individuals cannot be dropped by their insurance company.
Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to people that get sick. Health insurance companies are famous for saving money by dropping health care coverage for individuals with diseases or severe illnesses.

High income individuals will pay higher taxes.
Households that earn over $250,000 per year will pay higher taxes. Beginning in 2018, high income earners will have increased Medicare payroll taxes and taxes on unearned income. Unearned income applies to capital gains, interest, and dividend income.

95% of Americans will now have health insurance coverage.
The biggest beneficiaries of health insurance reform are low and moderate income individuals, adult dependents under the age of 26, people with pre-existing conditions, and children. Seniors will receive a 50% discount on brand name prescription drugs.