How you can lose the health care plan you like: Pre ACA vs Post ACA

The ACA neither requires nor prohibits changes to any plan that existed prior to it’s passing. There have been, are now, and always will be advances in medical science and thus changes in health care and health care insurance. Life changes, get used to it.

If you like your plan you can keep it, assuming 2 factors.

First: “You” being everyone involved.

1. The individual insured and
2. If insurance is through employment, the individual’s employer and
3. the Insurance company.

Second: “You”, any one of the three entities involved, cannot find a plan you like better.

8 ways to lose the health insurance plan you like, in no particular order, before the Affordable care act.

1. Individuals could find a plan they like better and choose to drop the plan they like or have no plan at all.
2. Employers can and do change plan offerings without input from employees.
3. An individual who is laid-off or fired loses employer provided insurance.
4. An individual who retires may be required to change to a “retiree” plan.
5. Insurance companies can cancel a plan, choose to offer different plans.
6. Insurance companies can decide your health care is too expensive to be profitable and cancel an individuals plan at any time.
7. Insurance companies can decide not to cover pre-existing conditions such as birth defects and any past medical issue that began before insurance was purchased.
8. Individuals can suffer financial reversals and no longer be able to afford to pay for the plan they like.

How these 8 ways to lose your plan changed as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Insurance can and must change. 

1. Change: Choosing not to have health insurance is no longer an option, individuals can choose to change from plans they like to plans they like better.
2. Change. The ACA neither requires nor prohibits employers or insurance companies from changing plans they offer. However, the competitive “market places” encourage competition between Insurance providers, competition encourages improvement, change.
3. Change: Individuals no longer lose coverage based on employment status.
4. No Change: As in number 2, both the insurance company and the employer may offer different plans to retirees.
5. Change: Private insurance companies can and do change their offerings, a more competitive market encourages change for the better.
6. Change: Insurance companies must pay for the health care of the insured regardless of cost.
7. Change: Insurance companies may no longer deny coverage based on past medical history.
8. Change: State Governments that expanded medicare, insurance is paid by the federal government for those without means to pay, State Governments that did not expand medicare continue to deny the poor health care.

As a result of the “for profit” health care industry that has evolved in American, the system is the greatest in the world at producing Heath Care Industry profits. As far as providing health care, the system is poor leaving about 43 million Americans without access to even the most basic medical care and costing those who can pay far more than necessary.

As a result of the ACA, all will have affordable access to medical care, with the exception of the poor in states whose State Governments decided to deny them participation in the new expanded federal medicare program. All will share the cost in so far as they are able. Insurance company and private hospital profits are capped and competition is created thus reducing the cost of care. (See why the 2 Trillion dollar a year health care industry is fighting it so hard?)

The ACA is a change for the better. Better for individuals and, with 43 million more customers, better for corporations.

PS Concerning constitutionality: The first sentence of the US Constitution states 6 reasons for the creation of the Constitution. One of the 6 stated purposes for the constitution is “promote the general welfare”. This promotes the general welfare, it is constitutional.
 Follow the link and read the first sentence. It begins “We the People…”.

http://anguscroix.com/us-constitution-and-amendments/