Obamacare Simplified for Children

OBAMACARE simplified for children (and Adults!) CHAPTER ONE the beginning9 Once upon a time, people were sick. Since the beginning of time people have been getting sick. Did you know that 50% of Americans have something called a “pre-existing condition"?" no pre-existing condition pre-existing condition olo When people get sick they want to go to the doctor or hospital. In the United States we are lucky to have some of the best doctors and hospitals in the world, and the most accessibility to care. But going to the doctor or hospital costs money. Sometimes lots of money. INSURANCE One day some very smart people decided if each of them put a small amount of money together with a lot of other people, they would be able to pay the doctor if one of them got sick. They called this idea "insurance". The agreement between insurance companies and regular people went like this: While you were healthy, you paid a tiny, tiny, tiny bit of money to your insurance company every month. We call this a "premium." When you were sick, the insurance company used the money from these premiums to help you pay your bills. They didn't just use your premiums, they used everyone's premiums-everyone helped each other. Hospitals, ambulances, doctors, and nurses aren't free, after all. This idea has worked for a long time. Until.. CHAPTER TWO the problem Doctors and scientists got better at helping people become healthy, but the better the doctors and medicine got, the more expensive it became. $50 billion UEUE UBEU$500 billion Over 20 years, medical expenses for America went from $50 billion a year to $500 billion a year. That's a 900% increase!? Unfortunately, insurance companies couldn't afford to insure all those people with "pre-existing conditions," since those people were certain to cost the insurance companies and their customers more money than they paid in premiums. From 2009 to 2013 alone, the cost of medical care for your average American family increased 30%. In fact, the premiums for your average American household rose by 8% each year from 1999 tb 2011. That's quite a lot! So in the end, lots of people were sick, but medical treatment was really expensive and cost more than most people could pay by themselves! Many people stopped buying insurance to pay for their medical bills because it cost so much. These people are called "uninsured". There are approximately 50 million people uninsured in the United States. How many people is 50 Million? 11.5 12.75 million million 19.5 9.8 million million 50 Million people is the same as ALL of the people that live in Ohio + Pennsylvania + Michigan + New York. That's A LOT of people! CHAPTER THREE trying to fix things Politicians tried and failed to pass something called "health care reform" before. The cost of going to a INI doctor kept going up. If this didn't change, eventually no one would be able to afford going to the doctor. Some people believed we needed to change or "reform" how we pay for our medical treatment. President Obama decided to try as well. President Obama and Congress passed a bill called the OBAMACARE "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". These days, everyone just calls it Obamacare. Sally Smith 947672927561 what does Obamacare do? Obamacare wants more people to have medical insurance. 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 With Obamacare, people with pre-existing conditions can get insurance for the same price as people who are healthy. By 2014, many more people will be able to purchase health insurance who otherwise wouldn't because of Obamacare. Obamacare wants medical care to be cheaper Senior citizens can get cheaper drugs and lower medical bills. Preventative care will be free Preventative care is when you go to a doctor BEFORE you get sick. This is cheaper than going after you're sick, since it means you never have to get all the expensive drugs and operations to cure you. Instead, you just change your diet, exercise, or take some medicine every now and again. CHAPTER FOUR more people get help Obamacare is the law now. So what has changed? If you couldn't afford health insurance before, the government wants to help you get health insurance now. To do that, the government will want to know a few things about you, such as...' X Do you have a job? X How much do you make? X Does your spovse have a job? X How many people in your family need insvrance? going to have a baby soon? X Does anyone in X Is anyone in your home Then the government will check your home to make sure you are telling the truth. That way, only the people X Do you have any other kinds of income? who really need help will get it. have a disability? 16 million more people will have access to Medicaid coverage under Obamacare* * Medicaid is a health insurance plan where the government is the insurance company. Medicaid is for people who can't afford health insurance. Some people may be reluctant to get insurance. The problem PENALTY is, when people without insurance get sick and go to the hospital, they sometimes cause medical prices to go even higher. To prevent this, and to help pay for itself, Obamacare will charge everyone who doesn't have insurance a penalty. Hopefvlly, this will give everyone a reason to get insvrance, even if they think they don't need it. People with insurance will be more likely to take care of themselves and see a doctor when needed. That means they'll be healthier, which means they will help keep the cost of medical care low! THE END for now... SQURCES 1. http://obamacarefacts.com/ 2. http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v3n3/ 3. http://insight.milliman.com/article.php?cntid-8359 4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/coming-to-an-insurance-plan-near-you-the-32000-premium/2011/09/27/GIQAF1941K_blog.html 5. http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43472-07-24-2012-CoverageEstimates.pdf 6. http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2013/04/03/to-sign-up-for-obamacare-start-filling-out-the-forms-now-and-hire-a-good-accountant/ 7. http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2012/07/05/seven-things-still-wrong-with-obamacare/ COPYRIGHT 2013 HUMMELMARKETPLACE.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.