The enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, spelled major changes in the way health insurance in the United States operates. On the upside, insurance providers must now meet minimum standards for essential coverage, offering a variety of preventive services, providing insurance to everyone (regardless of preexisting conditions), and creating affordable coverage options […]
Archives for March 2016
What Is a Preexisting Condition for Health Insurance?
There’s no denying that Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act (ACA), has dramatically reformed health care in the United States, or at least health insurance. With the enactment of Obamacare, U.S. citizens (and certain other residents) must now meet mandatory minimums for coverage or face penalties, while businesses over a certain size must provide health […]
What Is Minimum Essential Coverage?
The healthcare reform that has occurred since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, has changed the way most people think about and approach health care. It has also changed the vernacular to a degree. For example, many people used to be concerned with preexisting conditions, or known health issues prior to […]
What Is CHIP Health Insurance?
Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, it was estimated that nearly 30 million Americans were living without health insurance. These individuals had no access to affordable preventive, emergency, or other medical care and had to pay out of pocket or go into debt for services and prescriptions. These uninsured […]
What Is HMO Health Insurance?
Even prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, most people were aware of the fact that both HMO and PPO health insurance plans existed. Anyone who had insurance through a job or a private insurance provider probably had to choose between these two options at some point. Of course, this […]
Health Insurance for American Students Studying Abroad
As a college student, you’re part of a group that just a few years ago would have been among the millions of Americans living without insurance. Yes, many college campuses offer some health services and even minimal insurance, but at the age of 18, most family insurance policies would have dropped you. The Affordable Care […]
How Does Obamacare Affect Medicare?
This is intended as a quick and simple explanation as well as a basic reference for how the Affordable Care Act has changed health insurance, particularly that for those eligible and enrolled in Medicare. If you need a quick review of how Medicare works overall, it is recommended that you read Medicare Overview before moving […]
Does Health Insurance Cover Vasectomy?
In the past, many health insurance policies have provided coverage for vasectomy, a medical procedure used as a permanent form of male contraception. By contrast, similar female contraceptive procedures (such as tubal ligation) were not traditionally covered, or were only partially covered by health insurance. The pendulum has swung the other way under Obamacare, or […]
What Is the Minimum Value Standard for Health Insurance?
Anybody paying attention to the healthcare reform debate over the last couple of decades knew that the process of updating America’s massive healthcare network was going to be a bumpy road. Still, nobody was prepared for the upheaval caused by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly referred to as Obamacare. Some […]
Does Obamacare Pay for Prescriptions?
If you had health insurance before Obamacare, then you’re familiar with the notion that most insurance plans cover some prescription medications in full, some only partially, and some not at all. You may also have had a copay associated with prescription drug coverage for health insurance coverage prior to Obamacare. So it should come as […]
