In the scope of things, Obamacare seems promising. The idea of lacking health care can be very scary, in the sense that you don’t know when you need it until it’s too late. With Obamacare, we are able to see more benefits for the very low-income Americans, like for example, Medi-cal expansion and improvements to Medicare. However, this program can affect small businesses. Firms in the US that have over 50 full-time employees will have to choose to insure full-time workers or pay a fine. As a result, to avoid the fine, businesses may cut employee hours or not hire at all and may even shift the cost to consumers. All in all, living in the poverty stricken community of Merced, we will see a positive impact of people able to receive better health care at an affordable cost. In my opinion, the problem is not that our health system is bad, the problem is not everyone is covered.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, can offer healthcare benefits for people who previously couldn’t afford it. It will take time for Obamacare to be fully implemented and even longer to see if it had a positive impact for the people in Merced and our nation as a whole. Only time can truly tell if the future of our health care system is bright.

Tags: affordable care act, obamacare, spotlight