There is a lot of talk about how the (Un)Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, is affecting businesses and their employees. I will refer to it as the UCA, Unaffordable Care Act, based upon my personal experiences since its inception.

I am a senior citizen on medicare and thought that my changes would be minimal. WRONG! Because the implementation of the UCA was gradual, perhaps the thought was that incremental changes would not be noticed. I noticed! And it makes a big difference to someone on a fixed income.
First, the name of my supplemental insurance provider changed, They took great pains to let me know that there would be no lapse in my coverage. Formerly, premiums on my supplemental insurance had increased by approximately $10.00 a year; under the new company name they increased about $40.00.
Second, I am a type 2 diabetic and received my testing supplies by mail from a dependable company of my choice. Not any more! I was informed that I had to use a different company which was “approved” by the new regulations and not one of my choosing. This was irksome. I had chosen my original supplier after much investigation and was very comfortable with my decision. That option was no longer available and I knew nothing about the new supplier except that it was the approved company. Approved by whom? Certainly not by me! When my new supplies finally arrived, I had to set up the new meter which came with language options one of which was Arabic. I wanted to toss the whole thing out but felt trapped. When my grandparents came to America, they learned English; broken English, to be sure, but they learned. I am befuddled at the people who refuse to adapt. If they love their land so deeply, why did they leave? Whatever their reason for emigration, IMHO they should speak English and stop trying to force everyone else to accommodate them. But I digress.
Third, my prescription medications (now generic only) increased in price dramatically. This leads to a related issue. With prices so much higher, I fell into the medicare prescription drug donut hole. Before the UCA I would fall into that category sometime in November. It is only August and I am in the donut hole. And, no, my medications have not changed.
Fourth – and this one got me really fired up – I grew up in a tri-state area having lived in one state for most of my life and then downsizing to the state next door. Because my doctors were all located in my home state and it was close enough for me to see them, they remained my physicians of choice. Recently I called my pharmacy to see why my prescriptions had, once again, increased in price. I was informed that my insurance would no longer cover my prescriptions because they were written by an out of state doctor. WHAT?!?
With doctors retiring early and opting out, many of the doctors who remain in the system will be young and inexperienced. If you think the VA scandal is shameful, it is a drop in the bucket compared to what is coming to conservative, older Americans with a government bureaucracy in charge of our healthcare. You might argue that the UCA offers help to the poor. Guess what, anyone with a brain knows that the poor have had help all along in the form of medicaid. They did not need this boondoggle; and now all of us will, in effect, be on a kind of medicaid.
My question is: What will happen to the finest minds who have developed the excellence in medicine that we all know has been the American standard? What will they choose to do? I predict a business boom for funeral directors.