Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, has been the center of attention in national news recently as a result of its horrendous website launch. Obamacare was created to help those who could not afford health insurance. In the end, it may turn out to hurt more people financially.

Congress has passed the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment under the Affordable Care Act which mandates that all employers with fifty full-time employees must give health insurance to their full-time employees or pay a fine of around two thousand dollars per uninsured employee. The problem with this legislation is that small businesses with fifty or more employees may not be able to afford these health insurance mandates. Some companies might fire full-time employees and hire part-time or temporary workers at lower wages in order to avoid paying increased health insurance premiums. In this case, there may be an increased outsourcing of jobs, which would only worsen the job market in America.

In addition, Obamacare requires all people to have health insurance, even for those who may not necessarily want it. For instance, young males in their twenties and under are less likely to get sick compared to any other demographic in the nation, according to American businessman Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital Incorporation. This provision might prompt them to avoid purchasing insurance in order to pay for other necessities that are more important to them, like food and rent. Additionally, recent graduates are under tremendous pressure to find jobs and do not need another expense like health care to add to their already tight budgets.

Obamacare requires all people to buy health insurance so that younger, low-risk consumers can subsidize older or disabled people. “It’s not fair to require young people to buy health insurance to help lower the costs for older Americans,” U.S. History teacher Mr. David Summers said. “But, the system won’t work unless it happens.”

According to Nasdaq.com, if one refuses to buy insurance, he will have to pay a fine of ninety-five dollars (as of 2014). The fine will eventually skyrocket to 2.5 percent of one’s income.

There is an easy solution to this problem, and it already exists – Medicaid. Medicaid would pay for someone’s medical expenses if they do not have health insurance. As per the mandatory benefits that it grants, patients on Medicaid are entitled to inpatient and outpatient services, x-rays, laboratory services, family planning, transportation to medical facilities, and other services, according to Medicaid.org.

Why should people be forced to obtain health insurance when they have Medicaid to help pay for their expenses? It seems as though expenses are taken from the government and passed on to the insurance companies, who then pass it on to the citizens in the form of higher premiums.

Moreover, insurance buyers’ markets are limited to in-state insurance carriers. This new system has taken away the competitive market which, according to Huffington Post, is necessary because “a buyer’s market is where the consumers are empowered to shop for prices.”

Now, Americans are stuck with price-fixed policies with no incentive for the seller to make their prices lower or their policies better. This noncompetitive market is contrary to the traditional capitalist American society. If health care companies have no reason to compete, they will not have any incentive to improve policies, procedures, or customer service.

Many people in the government have tried to promote the moral victories that Obamacare would accomplish while shielding its massive financial toll, but is this “moral victory” worth the financial struggle of tens of thousands more Americans? We’ll just have to wait and see.