What Is the Affordable Care Act? - East Idaho News

What Is the Affordable Care Act?

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Getty 062812 HealthTax?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1379950032889Creatas/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The Affordable Care Act.  Obamacare.  Whatever you call it — and however you feel about it — it is coming.  And you probably have a lot of questions.

“Will our bills go up or down, and will our coverage stay the same?” says Georgetown public policy professor Judy Feder, citing some examples.

The new health care law does a lot of things but the biggest is probably this: “People who don’t have coverage now are gonna be able to get it. And it’s gonna be subsidized,” says Feder.

She says if you work for a big company that already offers insurance you shouldn’t see that many changes.

But if your job doesn’t offer insurance, or you’re in between jobs or don’t make enough money, Emory University’s Dr. Ken Thorpe says you could qualify for new federal exchanges that come with pretty strict rules.

“They can’t deny coverage. They can’t drop you for coverage in the middle of the year. And they can’t deny you from being renewed from coverage next year,” he says.

You can begin signing up for the exchanges this fall.

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