The media is abuzz with talk of The Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). There are a lot of misconceptions out there! Find out what's true and what's rumour.

1. The 5 Most Common
Affordable Care Act
(Obamacare) Misconceptions
by Cook Martin Poulson, P.C.
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2. My Employer Is Required To Provide Coverage
Employers are not necessarily required to offer health coverage to employees.
Beginning January 1, 2014, large employers (those who employ more than 50
full-time employees) will be required to offer affordable health coverage to
eligible full-time employees.
Employers below the 50 full-time threshold are not required to offer health
insurance to employees.
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3. Everyone must enroll through
state or federal exchanges
The only individuals who will be required to
enroll through the state or federal exchanges
are those individuals who do not currently
have “minimum essential coverage”.
Individuals can still purchase their insurance
directly from the insurance providers, but if
they do, they will not be eligible for premium
subsidies available from the federal
government for individuals or families with
household incomes under 400% of the
federal poverty level.
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4. My state doesn’t have an exchange, so
I’m not required to enroll
States were given the option to develop their own individual exchange or defer
to the federal exchange.
Only 16 states currently have state-run exchanges. Some states are at various
phases of implementing their own exchange, but more than half of the U.S. defers
to the federal exchange. Any State that defers to the federal exchange does not
exempt residents of that state from The Affordable Care Act.
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5. The Affordable Care Act is going to
cost me a lot of money
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Many individuals who enroll
through the exchange will find they
are eligible for premium subsidies
and may actually find their cost is
lower than what they were
previously paying for coverage.
Those individuals or families who’s
household income is below 400% of
the federal poverty level will qualify
for premium subsidies.

6. The Affordable Care Act is
government insurance
The federal government, under The
Affordable Care Act, does not sell or offer
insurance.
The individual exchange allows you input
your information and gives you premium
coverage rates for varying levels of
coverage offered by several different
insurance companies.
Based on the information input, you may
qualify for a premium credit that may drive
down your cost even further.
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