On October 1st the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, launched throughout the United States. Unfortunately, the system that was put into place had numerous technical issues and has not had a successful start. The few glitches that Obamacare has experienced have numerous Americans at risk for identity theft and have prevented many people from being able to sign up for health insurance. While Obamacare is not necessary for all Americans, health insurance now is. So whether or not you choose to use Obamacare as your primary provider, here are a few of the key facts surrounding the new healthcare options.

Enrollment

While enrolling in Obamacare has been difficult thus far, it was intended to be a simple process. The government has set up HealthCare.gov in order to assist people in signing up for government health insurance. However, this website has been littered with technological glitches and has allowed a limited number of Americans to sign up. While the known issues are being fixed, you can still visit the site for FAQs and details of the plans, and apply via phone if the site is not working properly.

Details of Obamacare

Obamacare helps those who could not attain affordable healthcare.  While the figures are not out yet to determine if this is the case, so far it seems that the underinsured and uninsured are enrolling. Many analysts attribute this to Americans not wanting to be fined for not having insurance.  The penalty for not having insurance will equal at most 1.0% of your income maxing out at $95 for adults and $47.50 for children.

Obamacare and Businesses

Many businesses across the nation are feeling the effects of Obamacare. They are choosing to lay off employees in order to deal with the rising costs of health insurance. Other companies  have switched their full time employees to part-time schedules as a way to decrease health care benefits. The business sector of the economy is dealing first hand with rising costs of health insurance.

Differences in Healthcare

The main differences in healthcare with Obamacare affect Medicaid recipients. The most noticeable changes for 2014 will include:

• Higher premiums

• Fewer supplemental policies

• Higher costs for hospital-based surgeries and cancer treatments

• Longer waits to see doctors

• Higher out-of-pocket costs

Although there are thousands of Americans complaining about the delays that surround getting health insurance, those that have signed up are thrilled. In time, the website will function properly so that more individuals can enroll and take advantage of affordable health insurance.