Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

1. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

2. Start at :52 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx2scvIFGjE

3. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) • 2,300 pages long • Passed in 2010 with gradual changes made each year • Full law went into effect Jan. 1st, 2014

4. Organizer • Look at your organizer. It is split up into “Individual,” “Employer,” and “Insurance Co.” • Categorize each provision of the law into its appropriate category based on requirements • (Given that the government is funded by individual’s taxes, requirements of the government would fall under the “Individual” category)

5. Provisions • Allows uninsured adults younger than 26 to be added to their parent’s health plans • insurance • Require new health insurance plans to cover the full cost of preventative care (annual physicals) • insurance • Ban insurance companies from excluding children under 19 from parents’ plan b/c of a preexisting condition • insurance

6. Provisions • Allow people considered “uninsurable” b/c of a preexisting condition to qualify for insurance through a new federal program • insurance • Prohibit health insurers from imposing a lifetime limit on coverage • insurance • Offer tax incentives to small premiums if they pay at least ½ of employee’s premiums • employer

7. Provisions • Prohibit the government from providing or subsidizing (meaning they contribute money) insurance plans that cover abortion • individual • Prohibit the government from providing insurance for illegal immigrants • Individual • Require Americans without insurance to buy it, or else pay a fine (called the “Individual Mandate”) • individual

8. Provisions • Provide government subsidies for those who can’t afford the full cost of insurance • Individual • Require insurers to accept all applicants regardless of “preexisting conditions” • Insurance • Forbid insurers to discriminate on the basis of sex or cancel a policy once a person becomes sick • insurance

9. Provisions • Tax health benefits on the most expensive health insurance plans • Individual • Provide a “state insurance exchange” funded by the government for those who are not covered by employer-sponsored insurance or make too much to qualify for Medicaid • Individual

10. Questions • Which provisions can you infer are the most controversial? • The ACA demands the most of which group? • Is there any provision that you blatantly disagree with? • Which provision is the most “unfair” to the individual? • The employer? • The insurance companies? • Which provision is the most beneficial to the public?

11. Jigsaw • Split up into 3 groups as a class • Each group will weigh the pros and cons of the provisions under each category • Think about it from the insurance companies’ perspectives. What are the benefits for them under the ACA? What are the cons? • You will then join your classmates who were responsible for the other 2 categories and discuss what they came up with • A summary of their pros/cons should go on your organizer • You and your 3 category group must come up with a series of 5 discussion questions that should be saved for a future discussion