On October 1st of 2013, enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, began. For this reason, you’ve probably seen a lot of news about Obamacare lately, and it’s only going to increase. I’ve had a lot of clients ask me about it lately—what it means for the economy, and what it means for them. So I thought it would be a good idea to do a quick rundown of the health care law and what its effects might be.
Obamacare is one of the most politically-charged issues of the century. Some people defend it vigorously; others want nothing more than to see it die. Like everyone else, I have my own opinions on health care reform, but as your financial advisor, it’s not my political viewpoints you’re paying me for. So I’ve tried to write this letter in as politically neutral a way as possible. The information below is designed simply to answer common questions I’m hearing, rather than to take a particular stance.
There are two basic ways that Obamacare may impact investors. The first way is simple: to help pay for it, a plethora of new taxes were enacted at the beginning of this year, many of them specifically geared toward investment income. The second way is harder to define. Basically, investors may be positively or negatively impacted based on what effect Obamacare has on the overall economy. What that effect will be isn’t currently known, but some of the possibilities are discussed below.
So without further ado, let’s have a Question & Answer session. On the following pages are my answers to some of the most frequently asked questions I’ve been hearing on Obamacare.
If you have any further questions, or would like to discuss more about how Obamacare may affect you, please don’t hesitate to let me know
Best,
Bruce