PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- This Supreme Court decision touches every single person in this country. And not surprisingly, a lot of people have strong opinions about what that decision means for their own health care.
Small business owner Doug Newman is very concerned about how this law is going to impact his business.
Newman Concrete Services has seen a decrease in business during this recession, but Newman provides health insurance for his employees. He now has close to 50 employees, the level at which insurance mandates kick in under the Affordable Care Act, and he says its going to be tough to hire employee number 50 if it means tens of thousands of dollars in new health insurance costs and a lack of flexibility in designing a cost-effective plan for his employees.
Newman said, "The money's got to come from somewhere. In this economy, we're struggling for work. We're doing half of what we used to do. Margins are down; costs are up. Money's got to come from somewhere. If i'm required to spend X amount on an employees health insurance, it might be his wages that give."
Meanwhile, there are those like Beth Della Valle, who is self employed and says she couldn't afford to get preventive health screenings until this law was passed and required insurance plans to cover them.
The law also allowed her to add her 25-year old son to her health plan.
This Supreme Court decision gives her peace of mind that she can continue to go to the doctor and get preventive screenings before any health problem she has becomes catastrophic.
"I was ecstatic," Della Valle said. "I had to listen to it again because I didn't believe it had happened. I think we were all preconditioned that this just wasn't going to happen."
NEWS CENTER