The Affordable Care Act (Obamare) and How It Will Effect Individuals,

Small Business (Under 50 Employees) Health Insurance and

Sole Proprietor Health Insurance

For the month of July I will begin blogging about the Affordable Care Act, what many people are calling Obamacare. Since so many are uncertain about the many provisions of this new healthcare law and how the new law with affect New Yorkers wallets, personal Health Insurance and Small Business Health Insurance.  I will attempt to explain both the pros and cons of the AHA, including a timeline for enactments.

The AHA will definitely impact the people of NewYork. There will be a new Small business Health Insurance Marketplace and an individual health insurance exchange, increased access to Medicaid, new coverage options for young adults as well as changes to the costs of prescription drugs for Senior Citizens. These are just a few of the many provisions that I will be discussing. In addition, I will be weighing the pros and cons of the new law. I hope that I can answer many of your questions in the month to come and make this transition as painless as possible.

For starters, here is a little introduction:

The Affordable Care Act was enacted into law on March 23, 2010. Although some provisions of the law already have taken effect, for example preventative care, many more provisions will be implemented in the years to come.

As of August 2012, 4,987 previously uninsured residents of New York who were locked out of the coverage system because of a pre-existing condition are now insured through a new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan that was created under the new health reform law.

New York has received $368,999,996 in grants for research, planning, information technology development, and implementation of Affordable Insurance Exchanges.

$1,000,000 in Planning Grants:This grant provides New York the resources needed to conduct the research and planning necessary to build a better health insurance marketplace and determine how its exchange will be operated and governed.

$27,431,432 in Early Innovator Grants: These grants are being used to help a group of “Early Innovator” states design and implement the information technology (IT) infrastructure needed to operate Affordable Insurance Exchanges. Using these funds, the Early Innovator states will develop exchange IT models that can be adopted and tailored by other states.

$340,568,564 in Exchange Establishment Grants: These grants are helping States continue their work to implement key provisions of the Affordable Care Act.