healthcarereform.procon.orgIs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Good for America? - Obamacare - ProCon

.org Home More IssuesFAQs Teachers’ Corner Obamacare Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Good for America? Last updated on: 1/13/2020 | Author: ProCon.org ARCHIVED WEBSITE: This site was archived on Oct. 14, 2020 as a historical snapshot of the debates specific to Obamacare. For more on the right to healthcare in general, please visit healthcare.procon.org . For more ProCon.org topics, please visit our homepage . In Mar. 2010, the US Congress passed HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and HR 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 . President Barack Obama signed both into law in late Mar. 2010. The PPACA included an individual mandate that imposed tax penalties on people who chose not to buy health insurance. On June 28, 2012, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the PPACA in a 5-4 ruling. Proponents of the health care legislation, frequently referred to as Obamacare, have called it a historic political achievement and landmark legislation that reformed the US health care system by lowering health care costs, making health care more affordable, and protecting consumers. They cited the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it would reduce the nation’s deficit by about $210 billion. Opponents have called it a socialist and unconstitutional government takeover of the health care system that would increase the cost of health care, decrease the quality, and entrench a new entitlement. They said the law will increase the nation’s deficit $340-$700 billion over the next decade. In 2011 and 2012 the House of Representatives voted 36 different times to repeal or replace Obamacare. President Trump made a campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, and has repeated that intention since taking office. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act , signed by Trump in 2017, eliminated the Obamacare individual mandate penalty starting in 2019. This led to a Dec. 2018 federal district court ruling that struck down the entire Affordable Care Act based on the premise that the individual mandate had become an order rather than a tax. On Dec. 18, 2019, a federal appeals court agreed that the mandate was unconstitutional without the tax penalty but allowed other parts of the law to stand, sending the case back to lower courts. Defenders of the mandate indicated their intention to take the case to the Supreme Court. Sources PROS & CONS BY CATEGORY CORE QUESTION Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Good for America? Abortion Does Obamacare Fund Abortion Services for Cases Other Than Rape, Incest, or to Save the Life of the Mother? – DEBATED Bankruptcy Has Obamacare Significantly Reduced the Risk of Medical Bankruptcy? – DEBATED Birth Control Does Obamacare Require Health Insurers to Cover Birth Control? – YES Are There Any Exemptions to the Obamacare Requirement That Health Insurance Policies Cover Birth Control? – YES Congress Are Members of Congress and Their Personal Staffs Required to Purchase Their Health Insurance Plans through the Obamacare Health Insurance Exchanges? – YES Costs Have Health Insurance Premiums Been Rising at a Faster Rate Under Obamacare? – DEBATED Does Obamacare Provide Tax Credits to Help Some People Purchase Health Insurance on the Exchanges? – YES Does Obamacare Place Limits on Co-Payments and Deductibles? – YES Are There Penalties for Businesses with 50 or More Employees That Do Not Provide Insurance for Their Employees? – YES Are There Penalties for Businesses with Fewer than 50 Employees That Do Not Provide Insurance for Their Employees? – NO Coverage Does Obamacare Cover People with Pre-Existing Conditions? – YES Can Children up to Age 26 Remain on Their Parent’s Health Insurance? – YES Does Obamacare Eliminate Lifetime or Annual Limits on Insurance Coverage? – YES Does Obamacare Require Insurers to Offer Coverage for Treatment of Mental Illness? – YES Does Obamacare Require Coverage for Substance Abuse? – YES Are Individuals Currently Covered by Veterans’ Health Benefits Considered Covered under Obamacare? – YES Does Obamacare Require Dental Coverage for Children? – YES Does Obamacare Allow Health Insurance Plans to Cover Alternative Medicine? – YES Does Obamacare Require Insurance Plans to Have a Minimum Basic Coverage Level? – YES Does Obamacare Apply to Health Plans Offered by Colleges and Universities? – YES Does Obamacare Allow Individuals to Appeal Medical Service Denials? – YES Has Obamacare Resulted in More People Overall with Health Insurance (Including Medicaid Recipients)? – YES Does Obamacare Require Health Insurers to Present Health Insurance Information in Clear and Easily Understandable Terms? – YES Did Obamacare Allow Everyone to Keep Their Insurance Coverage? – NO Under Obamacare, Can Insurance Companies Cancel Coverage If a Person Gets Sick? – NO Does Obamacare Require That Retiree Health Plans Cover Children up to Age 26? – NO Does Obamacare Require Dental Coverage for Adults? – NO Deficit Is Obamacare Decreasing the Federal Deficit? – DEBATED Emergency Care Are Fewer People Relying on Emergency Rooms for Health Care Under Obamacare? – DEBATED Employers Is Obamacare Financially Burdensome for Businesses? – DEBATED Is Obamacare Leading to a Decline in Employment-Based Health Insurance? – DEBATED Does Obamacare Provide Any Funding for Workplace Health Programs? – YES Health Insurance Exchanges Do the Health Insurance Exchanges Benefit Consumers? – DEBATED Is Long Term Insurance Offered in Health Insurance Exchanges? – NO Health Insurance Mandate Are There Any Exemptions to the Mandatory Health Insurance Requirement? – YES Under the Obamacare Mandatory Health Insurance Requirement, Are There Penalties for Most Individuals Who Do Not Obtain Health Insurance? – YES Home Care Does Obamacare Provide Any Funding for Training Additional at Home Care Professionals? – YES Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) Does Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) Ration Medicare or Create Death Panels”? – DEBATED Insurance Industry Has Obamacare Increased Health Insurance Competition? – DEBATED Would Repealing the 1945 Antitrust Exemption for Health Insurance Companies Lower Premiums? – DEBATED Has Obamacare Led to Fewer Health Insurance Agents? – DEBATED Does Obamacare Restrict Insurance Companies’ Profits? – YES Under Obamacare, Are Insurance Companies Still Exempt From Federal Antitrust Laws? – YES Medicare and Medicaid Has Obamacare Improved Medicare? – DEBATED Has Obamacare Improved Medicaid? – DEBATED Does Obamacare Close the Doughnut Hole” in Medicare’s Prescription Drug Coverage [Medicare Part D]? – YES Are More People Eligible for Medicaid Under Obamacare? – YES Under Obamacare, Does Medicare Reduce Reimbursements to Hospitals with High 30-Day Readmission Rates? – YES Does Obamacare Require Payment Cuts to Medicare Advantage Plans (Medicare Part C)? – YES Physicians Has Obamacare Worsened the Primary Care Physician Shortage? – DEBATED Do Physicians Support Obamacare? – DEBATED Does Obamacare Make Any Changes to Physician Payments through Medicare/Medicaid? – YES Prevention / Wellness Is Certain Free Preventive Care Required under Obamacare? – YES Second Amendment Does Obamacare Contain Provisions Related to the Second Amendment and Gun Ownership? – YES Single Payer Health Care Can States Set up Their Own Single Payer Systems under Obamacare? – YES Socialism Is Obamacare a Socialist Law? – DEBATED Taxes Does Obamacare Raise Any Federal Taxes? – YES Does Obamacare Contain a New Tax on Unearned Income, Including Some Real Estate Sales, for Individuals with an Adjusted Gross Income of $200,000 or More? – YES Tort Reform / Medical Malpractice Did Obamacare Contain Provisions to Reduce Health Care Fraud? – YES Did Obamacare Change Medical Malpractice (Tort Reform) Law? – NO Undocumented Immigrants Are Undocumented Immigrants Allowed to Purchase Health Insurance through the Obamacare Health Insurance...