Obamacare 411

Welcome to Obamacare411

Obamacare411 is a suite of user-friendly informational tools designed to answer questions and cut through the confusion of health care reform by explaining what the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), otherwise known as Health Care Reform or "Obamacare", means to you as an individual person or as a family; and what it means to small business owners with fewer than 50 full time equivalent employees, including Independent Contractors.

The suite of products was developed in partnership with Small Business for a Healthy CT to provide consumers and small businesses answers to costs, subsidies, and what it all means to individuals and small businesses. The current resources are this web site, including the calculator linked at the top of this page, an iPhone app that includes a built-in calculator linked at the right side of this page, and a set of shopping guides available through Amazon as Kindle and paperback books by just going to Amazon and searching for Obamacare411.

It is important to note that changes started taking effect back in 2010 with the major changes taking effect on January 1, 2014. In addition, the cost of medical care does not significantly change; so Obamacare as it is being implemented is not a cure for health care expense reduction or control. Obamacare is a step forward to try and control the long-term cost increases of medical expenses; and a way to make coverage more affordable so that more people can have health insurance.

Interestingly, the greatest impact of Obamacare will be on the middle class, meaning the average worker that makes under $40,000 per year individually, or the 4-person family making less than $90,000 per year. Obamacare will also significantly impact “Main Street” businesses, meaning the local “Mom-n-Pop” or local employer, including Independent Contractors, through the availability of Guaranteed Issue and Federally Subsidized “Private” health insurance plans. Obamacare is not government insurance!

The intent of this web site and the other resources is not to explain every single aspect of Obamacare; but it is to focus on how Obamacare will personally affect individuals purchasing health insurance and small business owners that may offer or may be considering offering health insurance to their employees. The information provided here is very basic and does not focus on whether or not one agrees with the program. The information is focused on the basic pro’s and con’s of what you need to know related to:

- How does Obamacare change how I buy health insurance.
  How does Obamacare affect what I pay for health insurance.
- How does Obamacare affect what benefits my health insurance covers.
- What are my incentives or penalties related to buying or not buying health insurance.

Please keep in mind that many things are happening very quickly with almost weekly updates being released by the government on how the program is going to run; so some of the items here are subject to change as things move forward to an October 1, 2013 launch date and a January 1, 2014 coverage date.

Individual States are in the process of setting up Health Insurance Exchanges, basically call centers and web sites where you can buy your health insurance; and defining what the roles of In-Person Assisters (IPA's), Navigators and Health Insurance Agents will be under Obamacare. Generally speaking; In-Person Assisters will be local individuals that can assist people by sitting with them one-to-one and help people learn about and enroll in a health insurance program; Navigators will be educators that work with people and small businesses and the business's employees on a local or regional one-to-one basis to help them understand the program and how to enroll in the program; and Agents will be as they are today; people that sell health insurance plans and help educate people about the available health insurance plans.

Since you will have to purchase your health insurance through a Health Insurance Exchange in order to be eligible for financial assistance from the federal government; it is important that you pay attention to how your State sets up its own program. You should be aware that if your State does not set up its own Health Insurance Exchange program; that the Federal Government reserves the right to establish its own program in your State. In fact, many states have decided to let the federal government set up and run health insurance exchanges in their state's, at least for the first year, 2014.

Both Medicaid and Medicare are significantly affected by Obamacare. For Medicaid; the major change is the expansion of Medicaid Eligibility from 58% of Federal Poverty Level (FPL) income to 133% of FPL income. The 100% level of 2012 FPL for a family of 4 is approximately $23,000 in income, and for an individual, it is approximately $11,000 in income. Note that this will also affect the Dual Eligibility for Medicare enrolled individuals that will now qualify for additional financial assistance through Medicaid. In addition, Medicaid will also begin expanding coverage for Preventative Care; such as Annual Physicals and Immunizations.

However, please keep in mind that many state's allow higher income individuals to enroll in state based Medicaid programs. This means that you need to check and see if your state is going to reduce the income level to qualify for Medicaid and cancel your Medicaid; or if your state is going to maintain the current income level and keep people enrolled in Medicaid.

Individual Federal Medicaid Eligibility Annual Income:

New Maximum Annual Income (est) $ 14,600

Currently Maximum Annual Income (est) $ 6,400

Family of Four (4) Federal Medicaid Eligibility Annual Income:

New Maximum Annual Income (est) $ 30,600

Currently Maximum Annual Income (est) $ 13,300

The following are links to other web sites that can help you learn more about the changes to Medicaid and Medicare.

Federal Medicaid Website Link

Federal Medicare Website Link

If you would like to research and learn more about Obamacare; the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation has an extensive web site discussing health care reform and will provide you with a wealth of information. It is this author’s favorite web site for collaborating information from various sources.

Future (ongoing) Development: