Barack Obama's health care reforms finally go into action in US
Twenty-five million Americans with individual health insurance policies are expected to benefit as system undergoes major changes
US President Barack Obama's landmark health care reforms took effect yesterday, granting coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans after nearly four years of bitter wrangling that has loomed large over the US political landscape.
Since the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare", was passed in 2010, the legislation has survived several repeal attempts by Republican lawmakers, a US Supreme Court hearing and a disastrous rollout of the website set up to assist the launch of the legislation.
But as of yesterday, it is illegal for insurers to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions or to limit the level of annual reimbursements for essential services - practices in the past which had left some patients facing financial ruin.
Under the Affordable Care Act, it will now be mandatory for any US resident to enrol in a health care plan. Failure to do so will be punishable by a US$95 fine, a figure that will rise to US$695 in 2014.
The economic reasoning of the legislation is that if everyone contributes to the system the premiums paid by healthy people should offset the additional costs associated with the US citizens who are the most costly to insure.
In a significant first, the new legislation defines treatments that insurers must cover. All insurance must now include cover for stays in hospital, including emergencies, and preventative care - such as screenings for diabetes or cancer, vaccines or contraception - should also be fully reimbursed.