The Republicans in control of the federal government want to do a repeal of the ACA, but some may wonder how a repeal will affect them and their loved ones.
The Affordable Care Act allows those without insurance to purchase policies from a health care marketplace and prevents insurers from blocking customers based on pre-existing conditions as well as requiring that some companies provide insurance for employees. A repeal of this law could affect employment in a few distinct ways.
Longer Wait Times
One stipulation of the ACA is that it limits the wait time that new employees go through before getting health care coverage. If you start a new job and have health insurance, your employer must provide you with coverage within your first 90 days on the job. With a repeal of this law, your employer can make you wait longer for coverage and even outright deny you coverage. Your may find yourself waiting until the start of the next fiscal year before you can apply for health insurance.
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Overall Limits
A great benefit of Obamacare is that it bans insurers from implementing limits or caps on the amount of money your insurance pays out over the course of your policy. A repeal of this Act may lead to insurers implementing caps in the calendar year as well as a lifetime cap. With an annual cap, the insurer will only pay out a specific amount over that calendar year, and with a lifetime cap, the insurer agrees to only pay a specific amount over the life of your policy. Any amount you spend over that amount will come out of your own pocket.
No Guarantee of Insurance
A repeal of the ACA may mean that you no longer get insurance from your employer. The ACA requires that any company with 50 or more employees must provide health insurance for those who work a minimum of 30 hours a week. If the government repeals this Act, employers will have the discretion to offer new insurance policies or to eliminate the insurance they already have. You’ll then need to purchase private insurance for yourself or your family.
Lack of Extra Coverage
The ACA required that insurers provide extra coverage such as maternity coverage for pregnant women and preventative screenings for those at risk of developing certain medical conditions. You could opt for screenings that checked for heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol and other diseases. If the government repeals the Affordable Care Act, insurers can eliminate coverage for pregnant women and get rid of reproductive insurance that helps identify sexually transmitted diseases and infections. You’ll spend more of your own money to cover all the extra coverage that your insurer no longer offers.
Overall Loss of Jobs
According to Stephen Miller of the Society for Human Resource Management, a repeal of the Affordable Care Act could lead to the loss of nearly three million jobs in the health care industry and all related jobs. As more people had insurance under the ACA, hospitals and other facilities hired new workers to handle those new patients and their needs. If the government repeals this law, a large portion of those workers may lose their jobs.
The Affordable Care Act gave millions of Americans the right to health insurance through their employers or through the health care marketplace. With a Republican government hoping for a repeal of the ACA, employees may find that they no longer have access to health insurance while millions of other people lose their jobs.
