The role our government is playing when it comes to health care.
That is setting goals and objectives for the balance of the country and the ground rules associated with the new law referred my many as Obamacare.
The Affordable Health Act intends to insure America from the current 88% to 93% of the country.
The 5% increase may not sound like much, but the dollar amount to do that is in the billions.
And now that we are post election and President Obama is in his second term, the speed of rule making with the new law is taking a fast and dramatic turn.
Repealing the law is no longer an option, but reforming it is.
To help us make sense of the health care reform, WSBT enlisted the help of Al Gutierrez, the president and CEO of Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center.
"The biggest expectation, which has been validated by the Supreme Court, is there is an individual mandate in the country," said Gutierrez. "Americans are now constitutionally obligated to buy health insurance under the penalty of the IRS. So, that is a big change and that is their responsibility. It's very similar to the requirement in the state to have auto insurance when you drive your car. So, once a year, like when we get the booklet from the auto insurance what deductible you want, what kind of coverage do you need, Americans will be making choices. Those choices will be made in something called the health insurance exchange which every state is required to open. It will be the new market place with which individuals can buy insurance under the individual mandate."
Because of that mandate, you can be penalized by the IRS if you don't comply with the law.
It starts January 1, 2014.
