How the Obamacare Individual Mandate Affects Health Insurance for Self Employed Americans

By 2014, millions of Americans will be subject to a fine if they don’t have adequate health insurance. Self employed individuals are likely to be one of the groups most affected by the Obamacare individual mandate that becomes law on January 1st of next year.

Roughly one-third of the national labor force is self-employed. That adds up to 42 million Americans. In many cases, they are responsible for 100% of the cost of covering themselves and their families. For these freelancers and independent contractors, healthcare costs already significantly impact monthly budgets. However, come 2014, many will learn that they face penalties because their current coverage fails to meet new minimum benefit standards laid out in the Affordable Care Act.

According to HealthCare.gov, there are a list of 10 essential benefits that must be included in coverage for an individual to meet the minimum standards for health insurance. Self employed individuals and millions of other Americans will need to be covered for:

– Prescription drugs
– Wellness services, chronic disease management, and preventative care
– Outpatient care
– Hospitalization
– Emergency services
– Laboratory services
– Rehabilitative devices and services
– Maternity and newborn care
– Pediatric services
– Mental health and substance abuse services, including behavioral health treatment

Why is the Affordable Care Act placing such a high burden on people who already may be struggling with healthcare costs? The intent of the Obamacare individual mandate is to protect those who rely on high deductible plans that offer minimum benefits at low monthly premiums. These plans often fail to help people facing major health events, leading to higher incidents of bankruptcies and unpaid hospital bills. Both of these outcomes jack up the costs of care for us all.

In order to offset the costs of obtaining better coverage, the government is offering help from the newly formed healthcare marketplaces and exchanges soon to be available in many states. Unfortunately, millions of people will fall through the cracks of this system. Experts have estimated that two-thirds of the two million residents of California responsible for buying their own insurance will not get help from tax subsidies or qualify to participate in the exchanges.

If you make more than four times the Federal Poverty Level, roughly 46,000, you would be wise to start shopping now for affordable health care. Self employed individuals, or any other Americans responsible for finding their own coverage, are getting closer and closer to the deadline to decide.

Your options are clear. If your current plan doesn’t meet the minimum criteria, you’re going to need to find an upgrade or else face penalties. If you currently have no coverage and would like to avoid the fine, make sure that any new health insurance plan you sign up for has all of the benefits on the mandatory list. If you opt to go without insurance, you should know that the penalty increases every year.

Because of the cracks in the system, some will choose to pay the fine rather than cope with the high costs of health care. Self employed people have an especially hard choice to make because their decision could affect them personally and professionally.

To learn all you need to know about Obamacare, read this comprehensive self employed health insurance guide. You can get a free quote and protect yourself for less by visiting cheaplyinsured.com/health.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Michael_Acker/1682852