In what month and year does Obamacare go into effect?

[nico08]

I know that different parts of the plan are rolling out on different dates. Assuming any legal challenges fail, I would like to know in what month and year could I purchase health insurance through the Obamacare plan.

Also, if I leave my employment prior to that date, will I still be eligible for COBRA based health insurance, if I pay the COBRA premium, for up to 18 months prior to the initiation of Obamacare plan of insurance?

The start date for Obamacare initiation will play a role in my departure date from employment.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[REWahoo]

This should be able to tell you everything you need to know about the implementation schedule for the new healthcare act: Implementation Timeline - Kaiser Health Reform

Edit: Looks like Jan 1, 2014 is the date you can begin to purchase guaranteed issue individual health insurance.

 

[MichaelB]

Cobra has not changed and continues in full force. We are dealing with regulations that are not yet effectively in place so there may be changes prior to full implementation, as well as unforeseen issues that show up the first couple of months. Coverage and pricing are also unknown. I would not abandon job-related health care until these things were clearer.

 

[Gone4Good]

The start date for Obamacare initiation will play a role in my departure date from employment.

You may have noticed that there are efforts to repeal the legislation and find parts or all of it unconstitutional. I wouldn't plan too heavily on any pieces of this legislation until it has passed through the Supreme Court and we know the outcome of the election in 2012.

 

[chinaco]

I would not drop current coverage (i.e., quit work) until I had a workable solution in place.

I would not plan on using those state healthcare exchanges until you are sure the legislation will survive and your state implements it.

You can check to see if your state has a plan to implement the exchanges.

You could also check on individual policy directly with an insurance company. You should probably talk with an insurance agent to get the details.

 

[Stella_Barbone]

We"re in the same boat. We're waiting until after the 2012 election to see where the bill goes. I saw an estimate this morning that the SC should have heard the case and made it's ruling by July of next year. Thirty five states have established transitional high risk pools in the meantime and 11 states have some form of guaranteed issuance already (although neither of the states that I want to live in fall into that category). I'm not sure if the HR pools will disappear if the bill is overturned, but I am quite sure that there will be no replacement bill. I wish it would get settled!

 

[GregLee]

I wish it would get settled!

But if the SC gave their decision promptly, we might have the impression that they hadn't really thought about it all that much -- a political whim. This way, after nearly a year, we will know that they've been deeply deliberating, deliberating, thinking, thinking.

 

[Stella_Barbone]

Well, presumably Justice Kennedy is pondering, pondering, pondering, because I'm fairly certain that the other 8 have made up their minds.

 

[BOBOT]

This should be able to tell you everything you need to know about the implementation schedule for the new healthcare act: Implementation Timeline - Kaiser Health Reform
......

Thanks, REW, that's a very useful link.

 

[jebmke]

Obamacare

do you mean the Affordable Care Act?

 

[braumeister]

It might also be wise to figure in the implementation date of TEOTWAWKI on December 21, 2012.



2012 phenomenon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Chuckanut]

2014 is the date I have heard for full coverage. When in 2014? I am not sure.

 

[Alan]

Let's keep politics off this thread please, the OP asked a good question that many are interested in.

 

[rescueme]

Let's keep politics off this thread please, the OP asked a good question that many are interested in.

Thanks for your "guidence"...

 

[Stella_Barbone]

2014 is the date I have heard for full coverage. When in 2014? I am not sure.

Right, various aspects phase in between last fall and 2018, but the important clause -- guaranteed issuance -- is scheduled to become law Jan 1, 2014 [MODERATOR EDIT]. Repeal would be just about impossible since the Senate currently runs on supermajority rules, but loss of the individual mandate with a Supreme Court ruling would probably make the whole plan unsustainable pretty quickly. I understand that Costa Rica has an excellent healthcare system ....

 

[palomalou]

GregLee, are you thinking all but Kennedy will support the ACA? That would be my guess but...

 

[samclem]

I wish it would get settled!

For those looking for a SCOTUS decision in the near term so they can make plans, that's not likely. I won't go into politics pro/con or Dem/Rep here, but there's a good case to be made that proponents of the AHCA should/will seek to avoid a Supreme Court decision before the 2012 election, and that they will take steps to slow the process down in order to achieve this result. Those who oppose the law would prefer a quicker decision, but the more powerful "tools" are at the disposal of those who want the decision to be delayed.

It is fair and all part of the way the system works. But it means it will be a bit longer before anyone should make concrete plans.

 

[FinanceGeek]

I know that different parts of the plan are rolling out on different dates. Assuming any legal challenges fail, I would like to know in what month and year could I purchase health insurance through the Obamacare plan.

Also, if I leave my employment prior to that date, will I still be eligible for COBRA based health insurance, if I pay the COBRA premium, for up to 18 months prior to the initiation of Obamacare plan of insurance?

The start date for Obamacare initiation will play a role in my departure date from employment.

Thank you for your advice.

I suspect lots of people continue working primarily to get access to group health insurance. When so-called "Obamacare" passed, I began thinking that after July 1 2012 (e.g. 18 month COBRA eligibility period before pre-existing condition underwriting goes away) we would see a large drop in the labor force participation. In fact, the CBO estimated 800k jobs would be "lost" due to this legislation passing. I wonder if those job "losses" are really voluntary retirements of people who were only working for the insurance.

As of right now, I hope to be one of those ER-people, but I think its wiser to wait until the SC decision and election are known.

 

[fh2000]

I suspect lots of people continue working primarily to get access to group health insurance. When so-called "Obamacare" passed, I began thinking that after July 1 2012 (e.g. 18 month COBRA eligibility period before pre-existing condition underwriting goes away) we would see a large drop in the labor force participation. In fact, the CBO estimated 800k jobs would be "lost" due to this legislation passing. I wonder if those job "losses" are really voluntary retirements of people who were only working for the insurance.

As of right now, I hope to be one of those ER-people, but I think its wiser to wait until the SC decision and election are known.

My Firecalc number puts me in the class of 2013, so I might become one of the 800K statistics you quoted, if the law stays. I would be fine to give up my job to anyone unemployed and qualified to do my job. I think that would help the society in a small way.

 

[ziggy29]

I suspect lots of people continue working primarily to get access to group health insurance. When so-called "Obamacare" passed, I began thinking that after July 1 2012 (e.g. 18 month COBRA eligibility period before pre-existing condition underwriting goes away) we would see a large drop in the labor force participation. In fact, the CBO estimated 800k jobs would be "lost" due to this legislation passing. I wonder if those job "losses" are really voluntary retirements of people who were only working for the insurance.

I've sometimes wondered this, too. If -- *if* -- the law is upheld by the Supreme Court, a lot of folks who are only still working for health insurance may start planning to head for the exits after 7/1/2012. If so, it might help the unemployment problem a little bit. The only question is, would businesses backfill most of these positions?

If the "individual mandate" piece of the law is thrown out in court, the whole thing becomes unworkable as there's no way you can eliminate medical underwriting without a universal mandate. So in reality, I'm not fully counting on this becoming law in 2014, but we'll see and roll with the punches accordingly.

 

[FinanceDude]

Time will tell....but it is being implemented some each month........little by little.......

 

[Chuckanut]

Ziggy, makes a good point. I know a number of people who are staying on the job until they reach 65 because they need the medical insurance. If they could be guaranteed insurance with none of the pre-existing condition stuff, they would be gone in a New York Minute.

 

[MichaelB]

The CBO estimate is not 800K job losses, it is 800K people leaving the labor force because they are only working to help pay for health care and would be covered by increased Medicaid coverage. From the CBO:

The expansion of Medicaid and the availability of subsidies through the exchanges will effectively increase beneficiaries’ financial resources. Those additional resources will encourage some people to work fewer hours or to withdraw from the labor market. See "The Budget and Economic Outlook: an Update here

It is being implemented little by little, but the state exchanges and individual mandate are key components and become effective 01/2014. More than two years is enough time for major constituencies to propose improvements to the AHCA that address shortcomings. Whether they choose to do so is unclear, but this seems to be moving away from a binary "pro v con" view to a more pragmatic attitude of implementation.