I have been reading up lately on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. It is confusing and complex to say the least. It is also highly controversial for many different reasons that we will not cover here. I work for a public library, my job is answers that are accurate and unbiased.
Therein lies the rub of information on ACA and its ins and outs. Due to its charged nature, trying to find non-partisan and unbiased can be difficult. Many people have some skin in the game and want this to succeed or fail for a variety of different reasons that, again, I am not going to address. I am going to take a crack at navigating the quagmire.
Do remember that open enrollment for health insurance exchanges begins on October 1.
The first place to start with sort of thing is http://www.healthcare.gov. This is produced by the Federal government and is essentially their portal for all things ACA. Normally I am I have full fain in government websites for accuracy and reliability, and I am not saying that this is not accurate or reliable. What I am saying is that this is essentially the Federal government’s sales pitch for. Take it at that.
They have a good piece called Health Care Law in 214 words (https://www.healthcare.gov/blog/2014-in-214-words).
Also, if you want to phone for information, that can be done by calling 1-800-318-2596.
I also really like a column WebMD does that seeks to answer questions regarding ACA. It can be viewed here: http://blogs.webmd.com/health-reform-101/.
The Wall Street Journal has a central gathering point for its coverage: http://topics.wsj.com/subject/H/health-reform/1662. They also have nice video here: http://www.nytimes.com/video/2013/07/15/health/100000002338178/demystifying-the-affordable-care-act.html.
The non-partisan Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation has a good healthcare reform website: http://www.kff.org/health-reform/.
Consumer Reports has a decent portal to its information, some of which requires a paid subscription: http://consumerreports.org/cro/2012/06/update-on-health-care-reform/index.htm.
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) has produced a nice website regarding ACA that can be found here: http://www.aarp.org/health/affordable-care-act/. Do note that AARP has endorsed the new health law.
Fact-checking website Politifact has a topic for health care: http://www.politifact.com/subjects/health-care/. Many of these are ACA related.
I hope some of these sources will help you make up your own mind on these important issues.
Keith L Greenawalt, MSLS
Public Services Manager/Reference Librarian
Tech Talk @ EPL 