Republicans Quietly Make an Important Fix To Obamacare That Democrats Wanted

[progree]

19. About all's I know is that it allows an INDIVIDUAL to opt out of the ACA

it has nothing to do with employers choosing to cover or not cover employees.

There's this Wikipedia article that I quickly read, and its as clear as mud (or frankly doesn't say) how stringent if anything

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_Access_to_Care_and_Health_Act_(H.R._1814;_113th_Congress)

here's some gobble-de-goop from the above

This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service, a public domain source.[1]

The Equitable Access to Care and Health Act or the EACH Act would amend the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to minimum essential health care coverage requirements added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, to allow an additional religious exemption from such requirements for individuals whose sincerely held religious beliefs would cause them to object to medical health care provided under such coverage.[1]

The bill would define "medical health care" to mean voluntary health treatment by or supervised by a medical doctor that would be covered under minimum essential coverage that: (1) includes voluntary acute care treatment at hospital emergency rooms, walk-in clinics, or similar facilities; and (2) excludes treatment not administered or supervised by a medical doctor, physical examinations or treatment required by law or third parties, and vaccinations.[1]

The article links to a American Humanist Association alert. The only thing it says as far as the content of the bill:

The EACH Act contains a provision that would allow anyone with “sincerely held religious beliefs” to be exempt from the mandate in the Affordable Care Act to buy health insurance.

http://action.americanhumanist.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=15259

Well, here is the text (its mercifully short): https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1814/text

Seems like anyone willing to make some bullshit statement about their sincere religious belief in writing, and file it with their tax return, can opt out of the ACA. I wonder if it applies to me, a devout member of The Church Of The Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Probably the only reason 78 House Democrats supported it was because they didn't want to risk being seen as anti-religious or against "religious freedom". (To jurors: Forgive Forgive).

I notice this from the OP's excerpt:

Democrats describe the change involving small-business coverage options as a straightforward improvement of the type they are eager to make, and Obama signed it into law. Republicans are loath to agree, given the strong sentiment among the rank and file that the only fix the law deserves is a burial.

So the Dems are not praising the religious exemption for individuals bill (as it has nothing to do with small-business coverage, unlike the other two bills). May it fail in the Senate. It is not a fix to the ACA but an erosion of it.