The Daily Dose prescribes an enriched mix of news, features, consumer issues and in-depth followups to The Denver Post's coverage of medicine and health care. <\/p>\n
Still a little hazy about the health care overhaul? You have plenty of company. About half the people surveyed earlier this spring by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation felt they didn't have enough information to understand how the law will affect their family. Among those with an annual household income of less than $30,000, about 30 percent thought the law had been repealed by Congress or the Supreme Court. <\/p>\n
That's the low-income demographic the law is designed to help the most as it extends insurance coverage to millions of uninsured people. <\/p>\n
With those results in mind, here are five key points everyone should know about the overhaul, heading into this fall and 2014, when major changes start to unfold. <\/p>\n
1. THE LAW IS IN EFFECT <\/p>\n
Congress passed President Barack Obama's health care law in March 2010, and the overhaul has since survived 37 attempts by Republicans in the House of Representatives to eliminate, defund or partly scale it back. <\/p>\n
The law, known as the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, also survived a more substantial test last year when the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality. However, the court's ruling gave states the right to decide whether to expand Medicaid, the state and federally funded program that covers the needy and disabled people. Medicaid plays a key role in the ACA's plan to provide insurance coverage to more Americans. <\/p>\n
2. YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO HAVE COVERAGE <\/p>\n
The overhaul mandates that, starting next year, most U.S. citizens and legal residents obtain coverage or pay a penalty. Some exemptions have been carved out for groups that include Indian tribe members, prisoners and individuals who belong to health care sharing ministries. <\/p>\n
The annual penalty starts at $95 per adult, or 1 percent of family income whichever is greater and then rises over the next few years. <\/p>\n
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Five key points in understanding the health care overhaul<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Daily Dose prescribes an enriched mix of news, features, consumer issues and in-depth followups to The Denver Post's coverage of medicine and health care. Still a little hazy about the health care overhaul? Continue reading