According to survey reports, middle-aged people in the United States are concerned about their health insurance coverage as they reach their retirement age. This National Poll on Healthy Aging depicted that half of the people between the ages of 50 to 64 years old have no hope of being able to afford their health coverage once they retire.
An even more alarming finding of the survey was that 1 out of every 4 people in this age bracket showed no hope of even being able to afford their health insurance for the next year.
People Are Scared, And It Shows
Lina Walker, the Vice President of Health Security at AARP Public Policy Institute stated that the results of this poll have confirmed what they had originally anticipated, which is the fact that many people are scared and nervous about their healthcare situation in the US.
She further stated that health insurance has become a very important issue for the aged citizens of the US, as they are more likely to face an increasing occurrence of health-related problems, and a good health insurance policy protects their health as well as provides them with financial protection and stability.
Due to their fears regarding future health coverage, American citizens are playing it safe by delaying or avoiding retirement altogether. To secure their health insurance provided by their employers, every 1 out of 5 people within the age bracket of 50 to 64 are staying at their current job and are avoiding retirement at all costs.
These concerned middle-aged citizens are also trying to remain up to date with the situation in Washington regarding the health care policy debate.
Dr. Renuka Tipirneni, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s medical department, has conducted her own research, which shows that people are really on their toes and trying to remain up to date as much as possible.
She was surprised by the number of people who said that they were following every news item regarding Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. This poll was conducted by Michigan Medicine in collaboration with AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) and was mainly focused on 65-year-old Americans who qualified for Medicare.
The National Poll on Healthy Aging also found that half of the people who were closely following the news regarding healthcare in Washington were worried that the finalized healthcare policy would completely disrupt their health care coverage plan.
According to Dr. Tiperni, almost 70% of the respondents of her study stated that they were extremely concerned with the potential changes in the health care policy, as it could affect their health insurance plans in a negative manner.
The Case of Obamacare
Experts are of the opinion that the lawsuit against Obamacare (also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA)) is to blame for all the chaos and the growing concern about healthcare coverage among middle-aged Americans who are nearing the age of retirement.
The Republican Congress failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year but they were still successful in repealing the mandate. According to that individual mandate, American citizens who did not purchase health insurance were to be penalized with heavy fines.
By successfully repealing the mandate, the Federal Judge of Texas ruled against the Affordable Care Act, terming it unconstitutional last December. This judgment led to widespread confusion as the people became uncertain whether they still had the ACA health insurance and the financial protection that it offered.
The decision by the Texas Federal Court of United States was taken into appeal in front of the United States Supreme Court, which, for now, has kept Obamacare valid until a final decision is reached.
However, more confusion is expected in the future if and when cheaper health insurance packages are launched under President Trump’s health policy. Although these health plans are expected to be cheaper, however they will offer less coverage leaving out many necessities previously covered under the ACA, such as coverage for prescription drugs.
