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One of the biggest and broadest implications of Obamacare is the impact it will have on millions of currently uninsured people. 3 Most of these people cannot currently afford healthcare or cannot purchase it for reasons like having a preexisting condition. Through the use of subsidies and expansion of the Medicaid program, many of these low- and middle-income people below 400% of the federal poverty line will now be able to have healthcare for little or no cost. 4 Having Obamacare as an option allows for people to use what money they have on other basic needs like paying bills and buying groceries while helping avoid the risk of losing their savings or home due to large medical expenses. .
To compensate for all of the money being spent on these new patients, new taxes and penalties are being implemented to fund their care. 5 Due to the influx of insured patients, it is also expected that there will soon be a shortage of physicians said to be close to 42,000 along with longer waiting periods in hospitals and doctor offices. 6 Doctors may even begin to deny Medicare patients access to their services due to the lower Medicare reimbursements as part of cuts to fund the overall Obama care program. As a result of the new expenses, employers and wealthy people will likely have to pick up the cost of this care. The increase in the number of insured people together with the limited number of physicians is a classic supply and demand dilemma. There is concern that with projected reductions in income, doctors will begin retiring early and smart college students will seek other careers. Long wait times and rationing of services may be a result of this imbalance. .
The new law includes certain mandated Essential Health Benefits (EHBs). There are ten categories of EHBs, including mandated preventive care benefits, maternity benefits, lab services, hospitalization, emergency services, prescription services and others.