The health insurance exchanges created by Obamacare are now open and enrolling insurance consumers. Study of the exchanges and the insurance market can help consumers make better choices.

1. How Does The Affordable Care Act Help People Like Me?
With all the controversy surrounding the Affordable Care Act, it’s hard to get straight talk on how
the new law will impact you. For insurance consumers curious about how the act, which
requires all Americans to get health insurance, affects them, the following are a few facts about
how the plan may benefit you.
One of the key benefits of the new program is the online insurance exchanges it creates. On
these exchanges, insurance consumers will be able to compare and contrast plans from
different insurers to determine the plan that’s best for them. The added transparency and the
ease of shopping around for insurance are expected to create incentives for insurers to become
more efficient and offer better service to their customers.
Although the new law requires all Americans to purchase health insurance, it also works to
mitigate the cost for individual insureds purchasing coverage via the insurance exchanges. If
you’re an individual making less than $45,960 or a family of four making less than $94,200, the
federal government will provide a subsidy that will help you pay for the cost of coverage. The
subsidy is awarded on a sliding scale, with low-income individuals and families receiving a
larger subsidy than those with higher incomes. If you receive the subsidy, at most your
maximum price of coverage will be 9.5 percent of your income.
The ACA will help small business owners find better and more affordable coverage for their
employees. Historically, small businesses have paid about 18 percent more for coverage plans
than larger companies. The new law helps to level the playing field. The new law requires
businesses that employ 50 people or more to provide coverage for their workers. Tax credits are
being extended to these businesses to help them offset the cost of providing coverage to
employees. The health insurance exchanges help by giving small business owners more tools
to shop for affordable, quality coverage.
For young people and college students, the Affordable Care Act provides you with the option of
staying on your parents’ health insurance. Many recent college graduates are struggling with
student loan debt and a difficult labor market. The ACA’s provisions allowing you to stay on your
folks’ coverage until age 27 provides much needed financial breathing space as they launch
careers, finish their studies or start businesses.

2. The ACA also expands Medicaid coverage to low-income families, providing coverage to the
working poor. In years past, many of these people fell between the cracks, making just enough
to be ineligible for assistance, but too little to buy their own coverage. The ACA shores up the
social safety net for these hard-working Americans.
Like any major program, the ACA will hit bumps and delays as it is implemented, but over time
the program will help slow the pace of health care cost increases and make health care
accessible for all Americans, both worthy goals.
For more information visit http://www.coverageca.com.