The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly referred to as the Obama Health Care Act, was enacted in March 2010. Key provisions of the widespread health care reform act include:
- All Americans, including children, must have health insurance.
- Employers are required to provide health insurance to their employees.
- Employees are allowed to keep their employer-provided health insurance if they lose their job (or are in between jobs).
- Insurance companies will no longer be allowed to reject people because of pre-existing health conditions.
- Insurance premiums will be the same for everybody regardless of health status.
- A one-stop marketplace, called National Health Insurance Exchange, for customers to compare and shop for insurance plans.
- The introduction of a government run “public” health insurance option to provide low-cost, affordable health insurance for everybody.
While the intent of the PPACA is to reduce health care costs in the United States, we are not likely to see this happen in the near future. In fact, the health care reform measures will result in an insurance company tax bill estimated at $8 billion in 2014 and escalating to as much as $12 billion by 2018 – this tax will be be passed on to employers.
Current Cost of Health Care
The current cost of health care benefits for family coverage is approaching $2,000 per month – that’s $24,000 a year; yet the average family only uses between $3,000 to $5,000 a year. The difference remains in the hands of the insurance companies. Rather then continue to pay excessive insurance premium costs, New Millennium Health Care offers will guide you towards a lower cost solution – a well-structured, self-funded solution that can lower the cost of your employee health care benefit premiums by as much as 20% to 25%.
For more information and answers to questions, see Frequently Asked Questions.
