Residents see pros, cons in health care ruling [Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)]

Correction appended

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling yesterday to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act, which will require most Americans to have health insurance by 2014, drew a wide range of responses from Columbia residents who have been or will be affected by the law in different ways.

Under the law, low-income people who do not qualify for Medicaid could be eligible for federal subsidies to help them obtain health insurance. The Urban Institute estimates about 6 percent of the population would be required to buy insurance or face the tax.

Among the most popular provisions of the law is a requirement for insurance providers to allow parents to keep their children on their health insurance plans until they are 26 years old.

Jack Buthod -- a staffer for Grass Roots Organizing, an advocacy group for low-income Mid-Missourians -- said he was nervous as he awaited the court's decision on the law. He is 25 and is on his parents' health insurance plan, which he said he has used for treatments for seasonal allergies and a trip to the emergency room.

"I would be without health insurance if the court had struck down Obamacare," Buthod said. "I'm really happy they upheld it."

The law also includes 50 percent rebates for enrollees in Medicare Part D who find themselves in the "doughnut hole" -- or enrollees paying between $2,840 and $4,550 per month for medication. The "doughnut hole" rebate was increased at the beginning of the year. In 2010, enrollees were presented with a $250 rebate check.

Robert Thomas, an Army veteran of the Korean War who was finishing up lunch today at the Oakland Plaza Senior Center on Old 63, said the law and the Supreme Court's ruling don't affect him much because he receives military benefits. However, he said he thought it was "wonderful" that the high court upheld the law. He said he believes U.S. citizens should all receive equal treatment, which includes health insurance coverage.

"We're all Americans," Thomas said.

Opponents of the law, however, said the Supreme Court upheld a law that constitutes an invasive overreach by the federal government into Americans' lives. Speaking briefly at a meeting yesterday of the Mid-Mo Patriots, Rachel Fei, a field organizer for Americans for Prosperity, said through the law, the government is "taxing us into oblivion."

"Regardless of what the Supreme Court says, it's still a bad law," Fei said.

Although the health care law's individual mandate portion was upheld, the court said states should not be required to take part in the law's required Medicaid expansion, which would have required states to expand Medicaid coverage to 133 percent of the poverty level.

According to a report issued yesterday by the Missouri Budget Project, a group that advocates for low-income Missouri residents, if Missouri expands its Medicaid program, the state could extend coverage to more than 307,000 Missouri residents and generate more than $8.3 billion in federal funds. States that opt for the Medicaid expansion would see that expansion fully funded by the federal government, and in 2020, federal funding support for the expansions will drop to 90 percent.

This page has been revised to reflect the following correction:

SECOND THOUGHTS: Published June 30, 2012.

A story yesterday about the federal health care law incorrectly referred to Medicare Part D as Medicaid Part D. The same mistake was made in a story published Jan. 29, 2011.

Reach Andrew Denney at 573-815-1719 or e-mail [email protected].

Copyright 2012 Columbia Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

This article was published on page A10 of the Friday, June 29, 2012 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Residents see pros and cons in ruling: Some view it as a tax, others a vital reprieve." Click here to Subscribe.

Don Shrubshell | Buy this photo From left, Alice and Doc Forker and Steve Athans, all of Columbia, sign petitions handed out by Americans for Prosperity Missouri field coordinator Rachel Fei Thursday at Hy-Vee on Conley Road. The petitions were to be sent to Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill asking her to stop wasteful spending in Washington, including spending for provisions in the Affordable Care Act.