Analysis Says America’s Health Care Act Is Good for the Poor, and Numerous Small Business Owners Will Benefit

U.S. President Obama’s health care reform bill recently made a narrow pass at the Supreme Court and was decided to be constitutional, meaning that health care for all will come true in no time. In general, the act is good for the poor, yet disadvantageous to the rich, since the increased burden eventually has to be compensated for by levying a heavier tax on the latter group.

U.S. President Obama’s health care reform bill recently made a narrow pass at the Supreme Court and was ruled as constitutional, meaning universal health care will come true in no time. Does the act relate to Chinese-Americans? In the face of national medical insurance, are Chinese-Americans happy or upset? Here is Yu Hao, a U.S. observer from the Global Chinese Broadcasting Corporation.

Obamacare has sparked great controversy in the U.S. The main argument lies in that the act requires all Americans to obtain health insurance coverage by 2014 or pay a fine. Hence, although the bill started going into effect last year, it was opposed by Republicans and many local bureaucrats, who together brought it to the Supreme Court. It didn’t come into practice until last week, when the Supreme Court ruled it to be constitutional.

However, many uncertainties will still come along the implementation; the main ones include who will carry out the enforcement and how a person should be fined if he or she fails to purchase coverage. What if the premiums increase so rapidly every year that ordinary Americans and working employees can’t afford it? Moreover, since the act enlarges the cover range of insurance by adding more than 30 million people to the beneficiary list, it will undoubtedly push the health care system further to an unstable edge against the backdrop of the U.S.’ current difficult financial situation. In general, the act is good for the poor, yet the opposite for the rich, since the increased burden eventually has to be compensated by levying a heavier tax on the latter group.

The U.S. Department of Health estimates that approximately 2.7 million Asian and Chinese-Americans will receive free health check-ups thanks to this act. In addition, some other provisions in the act also benefit Chinese and Asian-Americans. For example, the act states that children can also benefit from their parents’ health coverage until they turn 26; previously, children lapsed off their parents’ coverage at only 21. This means children don’t have to obtain their own coverage until they can secure a job after graduating college, which is good for many children from Chinese and Asian-American families. An estimated 100,000 people would benefit.

The new act also regulates that insurance companies cannot turn down the sick. Previously, insurance companies could either say no to those who are subject to hypertension, diabetes or cancer or greatly raise their coverage fees. The new act mandates that they should be treated no differently. In addition, many Chinese and Asian-Americans want to own a small business; they have to pay their own health care premiums, which are quite expensive in the current U.S. medical market. The new bill regulates that a Health Insurance Exchange is to be established, which is to gather retail investors that collectively can bid with insurance companies. By doing this, insurance premiums can be relatively reduced, which also benefits numerous small business owners.

In short, the health care reform bill is fairly good to the poor and low-income owners while being extremely unpopular among high-income people. As far as the middle class is concerned, the impact on them varies depending on the individual family and person.