Angelika It is accomplished: On March 23, Obama signed the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," thereby sealing, in a historic step, the (almost) national health insurance. This also ended months of arguing, hair-pulling, and debating. Although the law is not perfect, as it includes many poor compromises, it at least stipulates that starting in 2014, almost all Americans and legal residents must have health insurance.
Now, 2014 is, of course, still a long way off, but important parts of the law will already be implemented in 2010. Most notably, the so-called exclusion clauses of private insurers for individual policies will disappear immediately: Health insurance companies will no longer be allowed to expel members from the health insurance if they become ill. This may sound absurd now, but it was common practice in the free market until now. Additionally, private health insurers are now prohibited from setting a limit on how much a patient can incur in costs over their lifetime. There were contracts with a clause stating that, for example, after one million dollars, coverage would end.
This process is called the so-called "Lifetime Cap." Admittedly, not every insurance policy included this clause; for example, we have never had a cap on our insurance policies. However, it was indeed present in more affordable options, and a million can be quickly exhausted, especially given the absurd prices of the American healthcare system. Furthermore, parents are now allowed to insure adult children up to the age of 26.
Also, pre-existing conditions may no longer be excluded for children from now on. If a child suffers from asthma, for example, a new insurance company cannot refuse to cover costs related to the asthma when switching insurance. Adults who could not find insurance available on the open market due to pre-existing conditions can enter a so-called national high-risk insurance between today and 2014.
Starting in 2014, things will really get going: Health insurance companies will no longer be allowed to reject anyone due to pre-existing conditions. Every company with 50 or more employees must offer health insurance to their employees or pay a penalty of $2,000 per person. Even self-employed individuals will no longer be able to avoid getting insured. Low-income earners will receive tax benefits to help pay for health insurance premiums.