Welcome to Day 1 of Obamacare. The federal government is shutdown for the moment, but Obamacare is now law.
Nearly 1,300 days after President Barack Obama signed his signature health care reform program into law, its most important feature finally takes effect. Americans are about to get their first hint of whether Obamacare will work for the 48 million people who lack health insurance and the millions more who buy coverage on their own.
Beginning on Tuesday and through March 31, consumers will be able to use a new system to buy health coverage: online insurance exchanges in each state, accessible via HealthCare.gov, that let people compare plans and learn whether they qualify for financial help.
Obamacare guarantees everyone access to coverage, whether they’re sick, healthy, young or old. It establishes a baseline set of benefits and stronger consumer protections. And it offers low- and middle-income people help paying for coverage.
In short, it aims to transform the insurance market for people who don’t get benefits at work. Now a skeptical public finally can judge whether it’s a success, as Obama said in a speech last week promoting the health care law.
For more read the full story at HuffingtonPost.
