Everything you need to know about Obamacare

19 Cards

EDITED BY Sarah Kliff

2015-06-25 11:24:00 -0400

1. What is Obamacare?
2. What does Obamacare do?
3. Who gets health insurance through Obamacare?
4. What is a health insurance marketplace?
5. What is the individual mandate?
6. What's an individual man date?
7. Can I buy Obamacare right now?
8. What happens to pre-existing conditions under Obamacare?
9. What medical services does Obamacare cover?
10. What is a health insurance subsidy?
11. Is Obamacare available in all states?
12. Will Obamacare cover all of the uninsured?
13. What is the conservative case against Obamacare?
14. How much does Obamacare cost the government?
15. Is Obamacare popular?
16. Will Obamacare get repealed?
17. What is the IPAB?
18. Does Obamacare change the care hospitals and doctors provide?
19. Has Obamacare caused overcrowding in hospitals and doctors' offices?

1. Card 1 of 19

   What is Obamacare?

2. Card 2 of 19

   What does Obamacare do?

3. Card 3 of 19

   Who gets health insurance through Obamacare?

4. Card 4 of 19

   What is a health insurance marketplace?

   

   The federal insurance marketplace, Healthcare.gov (Healthcare.gov)

   Obamacare's insurance marketplaces are the websites where shoppers can buy health insurance coverage, sometimes with financial help from the federal government.

   Marketplaces are supposed to make it easier to shop for coverage

   Before the health care law passed, it was really hard to compare different insurance policies on the individual market. There was no one place to browse options. And even on sites like EHealthInsurance, which did include many plan choices, it was especially hard to compare between products. Some plans would have high co-payments but low deductibles, or a complex co-insurance structure only spelled out in fine print.

   The idea of the the health insurance marketplaces was to eliminate a lot of this confusion — to make it easier to find plans in one place, and compare them. All of the plans on the marketplace display the same basic information to consumers, like what's shown below.

   

   (Healthcare.gov)

   Insurance plans still use different co-payments and deductibles. But the health care law tries to make comparisons simpler by grouping all products into different metal levels: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.

   Bronze plans are the skimpiest coverage. No matter what their cost sharing structure, they will, on average, cover 60 percent of enrollees' health care costs. Silver plans are a bit better: they tend to cover 70 percent of subscribers' bills. For gold and platinum, the number rises up to 80 and 90 percent, respectively.

   Once somebody picks a plan on the insurance marketplace, their enrollment file gets sent electronically to the health plan, which typically collects the first month’s premium, sends out an ID card, and begins to provide coverage.

   In most states, the marketplace is Healthcare.gov

   

   (Kaiser Family Foundation)

   During Obamacare's implementation, states had a choice: they could build their own marketplaces or use a federal fallback option. Thirty-seven states chose the latter option, and their residents use the Healthcare.gov site to shop for coverage.

   Thirteen states and the District of Columbia built their own marketplaces, which gave them the ability to tailor the website a bit more to their own needs. Those states' marketplaces have different names; the Kentucky marketplace, for example, is called Kynect while the one in Connecticut is AccessHealthCT.

   

   (Kentucky Kynect)

   While these marketplaces look different, they essentially do the same thing: offer a portal where insurance shoppers can compare options and, eventually, purchase a plan.

5. Card 5 of 19

   What is the individual mandate?

6. Card 6 of 19

   What's an individual man date?

7. Card 7 of 19

   Can I buy Obamacare right now?

8. Card 8 of 19

   What happens to pre-existing conditions under Obamacare?

9. Card 9 of 19

   What medical services does Obamacare cover?

10. Card 10 of 19

    What is a health insurance subsidy?

11. Card 11 of 19

    Is Obamacare available in all states?

12. Card 12 of 19

    Will Obamacare cover all of the uninsured?

13. Card 13 of 19

    What is the conservative case against Obamacare?

14. Card 14 of 19

    How much does Obamacare cost the government?

15. Card 15 of 19

    Is Obamacare popular?

16. Card 16 of 19

    Will Obamacare get repealed?

17. Card 17 of 19

    What is the IPAB?

18. Card 18 of 19

    Does Obamacare change the care hospitals and doctors provide?

19. Card 19 of 19

    Has Obamacare caused overcrowding in hospitals and doctors' offices?