In its current form and after Supreme Court Review The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, will make it mandatory for everyone to buy insurance. How it is enforced will be determined over the next 6 months, and that is with an election in the middle.
Until enforcement is in place the overall effect on teachers is a non-event. Longer term the implementation of the Obamacare will create unforeseen consequences. If we base our projection on other countries’ experience with national or universal healthcare plans, we can get some insight into how this might affect you.
Europe’s Universal Healthcare
For example, if we follow Europe’s Universal Healthcare system, we will most likely see two types of insurance develop in the long run. In some European countries, citizens’ can buy private insurance or they can avail themselves of the “free” healthcare system. After many years of experience, Europeans who can afford private buy private. The rest get by. If you travel to Europe, do not get sick, public healthcare is slow and worse, when going for a routine treatment is as bad as a Saturday night in a Vegas emergency room, where you are taken in accordance with severity of your pain or injury.
This points out that with Obamacare teacher’s covered by collective bargaining agreements will enjoy solid coverage for the foreseeable future. With Universal Healthcare you will be given a choice to buy private or pay into the universal health plan. If insurance costs spiral upward, districts’ will eventually raise your contribution to meet your needs or integrate a universal plan with your private plan.
Canada Health Act of 1984
Canada has a public/private funded plan that attempts to meet most of the needs of its citizens. After years of patient care that is funded by both public (taxes) and private sources (employer and employee payments) Canada has what many citizens call adequate care. Canadians’ only complaint is the high cost for extreme situations but most everything else is covered. In the early 1980s, many well-regarded physicians fled Canada when the Health Act of 1984 was discussed and looked like it would pass. That brain drain won’t happen in the USA since the doctors don’t have anywhere else to go.
If we follow Canada’s lead then teachers can expect insurance costs and service to remain about the same until the cost of covering the rest of the population begins to lower their quality of care long-run, everyone is covered in an equal manner. Teachers currently have excellent coverage so the net effect will be a lowering of quality relative to today’s services.
Summary
In my opinion, Obamacare is not good for teachers’ health since it will dumb down the service you receive today whether it is with Universal health coverage or Canada’s system. It’s like teaching to the norm not the gifted.