The much debated “Obama Care” or “Affordable Care Act” on which the US Government faced a “Shut Down” recently has started getting active. The Act which envisages that every US citizen will get a health insurance at affordable cost without being excluded because of reasons such as “Pre Existing deceases”.
The “Market Places” set up for enrolling public to the scheme where they could apply for eligibility screening and applying for relevant insurance plans has seen nearly 1.9 million persons going through the eligibility determination process since October 1, 2013. An additional 803,077 have been assessed for medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) upto November end. Of these, 365,000 have already selected plans from the State and Federal market places .
For those who complete the plan choice by December 23, coverage will commence from January 1, 2014. The enrolment plan will however continue upto March 31, 2014. Those who fail to complete the process and obtain insurance through the process may have to pay a fine of $95 per adult , $47.50 per child or 1% of income whichever is higher.
The implementation of the Obama Care is likely to have a positive impact on the employment creation in USA in several disciplines.
The activity in health care management in USA is now going on at a hectic pace and will have its positive impact on the Indian IT industry also. However Indian entrepreneurs who want to make use of this opportunity need to gear up with better Privacy and Security control measures to meet the strict HIPAA-HITECH Act standards.
Naavi
