Healthcare is one of the basic pillars of any society since a healthy population is the greatest contributor to a robust economic growth. Governments all over the world are taking major steps in ensuring that its population is well provided with health care options that are cost effective as well as efficient. The government of the US has invested highly in its health care reforms to ensure that the citizens get affordable health care services through the combined effort of the government, insurance providers as well as the health care providers. The Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is one such health care restructuring which is directed at improving the health care accessibility and affordability to millions of the American citizens. It is therefore important to have a clear understanding of the PPACA aims, individual mandate, tax penalties, subsidies as well as its incomes by comparing it with other health policies in the world.
Individual Mandate in the PPACA
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which became law in 2010 and is officially known as the Affordable Care Act as well as Obamacare is meant to ensure that majority of Americans should have a basic level of insurance coverage in health. This requirement by this health act is what is generally known as the ‘individual mandate’ (turbotax.com). The rationale fronted for this individual mandate is the fact that every American citizen is required to have health insurance coverage most especially the healthy people. This will as a result increase the risk pools which will further lead to lowered premiums which will be able to cater for every patient including those with medical conditions which are deemed expensive (turbotax.com, 2016). This individual mandate further outlines all US citizens as well as the permanent residents in the US should have health insurance coverage or face a tax penalty. However people in incarceration, whose religion forbids health insurance, undocumented immigrants and the very poor, are exempted from this individual mandate.
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Tax Penalties Imposed For Those without Health Insurance Coverage
American citizens and permanent residents who fail to have health insurance coverage for them as well as for their dependents are liable for tax penalties. These tax penalties began accruing in 2014 which were meant to be cleared over a three-year period (turbotax.com, 2016). The penalty which is imposed on individuals who lack health insurance coverage is usually based on the number of months an individual goes without health insurance coverage (turbotax.com, 2016). However individuals who go without health insurance coverage for less than three months will not be penalized but individuals who forego insurance for a whole year will be required to pay their penalties together with their annual income tax return.
Premium and Cost-Sharing Subsidies Available to Individuals
Health insurance can be very expensive and as so may require subsidies to make it affordable for lower and moderate income families. The ACA comprises of a provision to control premiums as well as out-of-pockets for low and modest incomes people (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2016). These subsidies are usually affected through Medicaid as well as Medicare. The two available forms of subsidizations include the premium tax credit which reduces monthly contributions for health insurance for enrollees. The last type refers to as the cost-sharing subsidy which is aimed at reducing the subscribers’ out –of-pocket payments for visiting a medic or being admitted in a healthcare facility. In order for individuals or families to be eligible to qualify for these benefits one is required to enroll in a plan which is offered by Marketplace which is a health insurance.
Income Levels in Florida and the Effect of Individual Mandate
The individual mandate of PPACA requires that every American citizen as well as permanent residents must have a health insurance coverage failure to which attracts penalties. This however may present difficulties for the citizens of Florida since the income level of its middle class is ranked among the weakest in the USA (Klinger, 2011). In as much as this state enjoyed quite a significant economic growth the benefits did not trickle down to the majority of the people. As result of these low income levels of the Floridians, a case was taken to the Federal court which resulted in the rejection of PPACA individual mandate because of the need for the state to pay for the cost as well as providing health care for low income individuals (Klinger, 2011). This was to cushion the state of Florida from a big burden which will be placed on its shoulders seeing that most people in Florida have lower income levels as compared to other states.
Comparison of Us Health Care Cost and Outcomes with Those of Germany
The United States of America has invested heavily on the healthcare of its citizens as compared to other countries. The US healthcare system Act passed in 2014 requires that all the citizens to have health insurance coverage which is offered by their employers especially the large employers (Boldt, 2014). However these employers are not obligated to pay the insurance in addition to the fact that small scale employers do not necessarily pay for this insurance. On the other hand in Germany the employers pay half of the insurance while the employee shoulders the other half. In addition the government shoulders the full insurance for the unemployed as well as for the retirees (Boldt, 2014). In Germany this health insurance coverage covers medicines and dental care which are not covered in the United States. Consequently, in Germany the rich as well as the self-employed are free to leave this insurance system and purchase private insurance (Boldt, 20140). On the other hand in US all the citizens are under the same insurance so that the rich and the healthy can contribute to ensure that the poor and the sick benefit equally from health care insurance coverage.
In conclusion, investment in healthcare is very important in ensuring productivity of a nation’s workforce. The PPACA regulation is a step in the right direction in ensuring that American citizens get the right and required health care options. However this regulation has been faulted since it requires everyone to be part of it including the very poor and the penalties imposed on defaulters can be considered high. Although the government intervenes to offer subsidies and premiums the cost is still much. In comparing the US health care insurance with that of Germany it is true that the German government has advanced more in ensuring affordability of healthcare to its citizens. The US government may need to put better measures and policies to ensure the same affordability for its citizens.
References
Boldt, A. (2016). A subjective comparison of Germany and the United States . Retrieved from http://math-www.uni-paderborn.de/~axel/us-d.html.
Kaiser Family Foundation (2016). Explaining health care reform: Questions about health insurance subsidies . Retrieved from http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/explaining-health-care-reform-questions-about-health/.
Klinger, L. (2011). Federal Court in Florida Declares Individual Mandate Unconstitutional and Voids Entire HCR Act . Retrieved from https://news.leavitt.com/health-care-reform/federal-court-in-florida-declares-individual-mandate-unconstitutional-and-voids-entire-hcr-act/.
Turbotax (2016). What is the Individual Mandate for Health Care Reform? Retrieved from https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Health-Care/What-Is-the-Individual-Mandate-for-Health-Care-Reform-/INF26074.html.
