The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was passed by Congress in 2010. It is a healthcare reform law that aims to expand coverage and control health costs.
The law includes subsidies to help lower income people afford their healthcare plans. However, it has created some losers.
What is Obamacare?
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as it is sometimes called, was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. Its goals include expanding access to health insurance, increasing consumer protections, promoting prevention and wellness, improving quality and system performance, and curbing rising healthcare costs.
In practice, the law has helped millions of Americans who were unable to get affordable health insurance before the ACA. These individuals received coverage through online marketplaces known as exchanges or marketplaces, often with federal subsidies to help pay their premiums.
Some of these people also gained coverage through the expansion of Medicaid in many states.
However, many of the 33 million people newly insured will put additional strain on the already stretched health care system. Their increased demand for services will also cause wait times to increase for physician appointments. These delays, in turn, will make it harder for patients to get care quickly and effectively.
What is the penalty for not having health insurance?
Until January 2019, the federal government imposed a tax penalty on people who failed to maintain minimum health insurance coverage. The penalty was an unpopular aspect of the ACA, but it was put in place to encourage compliance with the law.
Some states impose their own penalties on individuals who fail to obtain insurance. These include Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and California.
In these states, the tax penalty varies by income and family size. Individuals who earn less than 150% of the federal poverty level don’t pay any penalties at all.
However, the effect of the individual mandate on enrollment may vary depending on whether enrollees are aware of their exemption status and whether they believe they’ll be able to receive one. For example, a recent paper by Frean, Gruber, and Sommers8 found that the effect of the ACA’s mandate on coverage was weaker among those who were exempt from the penalty. Similarly, Collins, Gunja, and Doty39 found that a large number of the uninsured were unaware of their eligibility for marketplace tax credits.
What is the law of the land?
The law of the land is a legal term, which means the set of laws that governs a country or region at a particular point in time. This includes both statutory laws and case-made law, as well as customs and precedents.
In the United States, the Constitution is the law of the land. Empowered with the sovereign authority of the people by the framers and the consent of the legislatures, it is the source of all government powers and provides important limitations on the government that protect the fundamental rights of Americans.
The law of the land is a dynamic concept, driven by social elements and with time and necessity as its companions. In India, the ‘Law of the Land’ has been defined by the three basic principles of Supremacy of Law, Rule of Law and Basic Structure Doctrine. In this article, we will try to analyze the Indian perspective on the ‘Law of the Land’ in light of these three essential principles.
