Affordable Care Act explained to seniors

In March of 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law.

The comprehensive healthcare coverage, commonly known as Obamacare,  will not go into effect until January 1, 2014, but enrollment is just six weeks away.

The average citizen might not have time to read the 906–page document, and if they did, they might need to clarify a few points in the fine print.

So, the AARP decided to do their part and mitigate the confusion by enlisting the help of some well–versed volunteers.

“We take questions all through the presentation , trying to answer questions about the new marketplaces that people will go to to actually purchase healthcare coverage,” AARP Legislative Volunteer Jimmy Bruce said.  “And those we can’t answer , we send to Michigan AARP and we have an expert answer those questions. ”

Most seniors covered by Medicare are retired.  They rely on their savings and social security checks to pay their medical bills.  Because there has been so much misinformation about the Affordable Care Act, some seniors are scared they will not be able to afford to the new plan.

“One of the big misconceptions is that Medicare was cut because of the Affordable Care Act, and that is just not true,” Bruce said. “The Medicare Trust Fund was extended by nine years because of the Affordable Care Act, and there are preventative measures that are now being paid for and seniors are not having to pay co-pays or deductables in their healthcare coverage because these preventive  kinds of tests are now paid for because of the Affordable Care Act.”

The AARP has a website that allows members to see exactly what will be covered under the ACA.