Obamacare - A New Reality

One of the first things I realized after the 2012 election results were in, and it was obvious that the GOP did not take the back the Senate or Presidency, was that Obamacare (or the Affordable Care Act) is here to stay.  I believe the majority of Americans probably didn't like the way it was foisted on us, but have gotten used to the idea.  They are comfortable with the changes that have been made, which are mostly positive (free annual checkups, pre-existing conditions covered, children through age 26 covered), and don't realize there are many more changes to come.  Of course, this might have something to do with none of our elected officials actually reading the massive bill before it was passed.  Many Americans were hopeful that Obamacare would be repealed after the Supreme Court disappointed us by finding it Constitutional, but now it is apparent that we will be dealing with government healthcare for the forseeable future.  So what can we expect.

From Americans for Tax Reform, there will be many tax increases, but here are five of the worst that begin in 2013:

The Obamacare Medical Device Tax – a $20 billion tax increase
The Obamacare “Special Needs Kids Tax” – a $13 billion tax increase
The Obamacare Surtax on Investment Income – a $123 billion tax increase
The Obamacare “Haircut” for Medical Itemized Deductions – a $15.2 billion tax increase
The Obamacare Medicare Payroll Tax Hike -- an $86.8 billion tax increase
Read more go to Americans for Tax Reform's website.

Admittedly, most of these taxes will only affect individuals making more $200,000/yr or couples making $250,000/yr.  Maybe that will affect you, maybe it won't.  But it will affect business owners, who will have to increase prices that will be passed to you.  Something else that will impact small business owners is the redefining of "full-time employee".  Apparently, a full-time employee will be someone who works more than 30 hours per week, which will mean businesses must offer benefits now for those employees or reduce their hours.

As for my family, we have had an epic year dealing with medical issues and expenses.  I have witnessed the changes in hospital care, with doctors and nurses following computer protocols to problem solve rather than their education, experience and intuition.  I have heard the conversations between doctors and nurses in elevators regarding reduction in services, reduction in insurance reimbursements, reduction in salaries, and reduction in patient care.  I have witnessed my own doctor's frustration regarding wanting to prescribe one medication but being forced to prescribe another due to government regulations and mandates.  I have taken my kids to walk-in clinics staffed with physician's assistants more often than their pediatrician, because my insurance covers those visits at a higher rate.  I have argued with every single doctor I have seen about why I don't want the flu shot, and won't give my children any more vaccines during almost every medical visit.  I watched my husband nearly die because doctors and nurses refused to listen to our concern about a medication because it was the "recommended and best" one that shouldn't be causing problems according to the computer literature.

I have a child with autism.  My biggest concern is for him and how we will be allowed to care for him in the future.  Currently I am homeschooling him, because our public school refuses to do what is necessary to teach him, which I hope to continue.  We have used the majority of our flexible spending money towards different uninsured therapies over the years, and he has medical problems that regular doctors can't and won't treat.  By capping flexible spending savings accounts at only $2500, Obamacare will cost us a few hundred more dollars every year in taxes and trying to find alternative ways to treat his medical issues.

Obamacare is our new reality.  This is not going to change.  Americans are heading toward a single-payor, government run system that will determine what gets covered, who gets treated, and how much it will cost you.  On the front page of Yahoo! yesterday, I saw an article on how certain treatments and procedures (spinal fusions for compressed disks, medication for depression) aren't necessary because there are natural therapies that can be successful, which is just a precursor to our government telling
us we can't have that procedure or that medicine because they don't want to cover it.  Get ready, because it's coming fast.  In the meantime, I plan on looking for doctors and medical groups that are willing to take cash and stay away from Obamacare.