Senator Dr. Ed Hernandez visited Rio Hondo on Monday to speak out on the new Obama care situation. Hernandez gave many different insights regarding the new affordable care act, as well as other valuble information.

In 2010 president Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Two years later, the United States Supreme Court upheld the Patient and Affordable care act as law. Patient Protection. Affordable Care Act, ACA, “Obama Care”, and Healthcare    Reform are all the same thing.

An approximate 5.3 million Californians are currently uninsured, 2.6 million will qualify for Premium Assistance through a new marketplace called, “Covered California”. About 1.4 million will be newly eligible for Medi­Cal.

Come Jan. 1, 2014 most people over the age of 18 will be required to have health insurance. It is the law. There are several types of acceptable coverage.

Which include Private insurances such as Emolyer Ins, Private ins, and CoveredCA.

Public Programs like Medi­Cal and Medicare are also acceptable. If you you don’t want to change your current health insurance plan and it is still being offered, you can still keep it.

If you don’t want to pay for health insurance you will be required to pay a penalty.

The 2014 penalty will be a 1% of your annual income or $95, whichever one is greater. About 1­2% of population is expected to pay the penalty.

When do you sign up? Only Covered CA will have Premium Assistance. Which means you can sign up now, sign ups were available since Oct. 1 and will go all the way to Mar 31, 2014. Avoid penalty by enrolling before Mar. 31, 2014. Coverage starts mid ­April. Open enrollment takes place on Oct. 1, 2015.

Enrollment can’t be done at any given time unless it’s during the open­ enrollment periods of unless you have a life­ changing event such as the loss of a job, death of s spouse, or a birth of a child, in which case you would only qualify for special enrollment. Medi­Cal is year around.

How much do you have to pay? Well, premiums will vary on the plan you choose (Platinum/Gold/Silver/Bronze).

The pricing will also be based on the region you live on, family size, and household income.