A Brief Note On The Healthcare Reform Act

Although America is one of the most successful nations in the world, our reputation is deteriorating as health inequality continues to expand. Health inequality results from multiple factors including wealth/income inequality. Those who didn't have enough money for insurance didn't acquire any. The Affordable Care Act, known as ‘Obamacare’, designed to provide low-income Americans effective insurance, is accompanied by numerous complications.

It is not just the poverty-stricken population that can’t afford insurance. The cost of U.S. health care and insurance is out of reach even for those who do not live in what we technically classify as “poverty”. By the 2003 Federal Poverty Guidelines, released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, poverty

In 2005, the federal government considered the poverty level as an annual income of approximately $20,000 for a family of four. If we consider families with incomes between 100% and 200% of the poverty level (between $20,000 and $40,000 annually), the rate of uninsured families is a staggering 33%. For families with incomes between 40,000 and 60,000 dollars annually, the uninsured rate is still about 16%. How do these figures translate into access to healthcare? In 2005, a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 31% of the uninsured had no regular source of health care, 35% postponed needed care due to lack of money and insurance, and 36% spent less on basic needs to pay for health care. Parents with children comprise about a quarter of the total uninsured population. Women are disproportionately represented – 20% of women ages 18 to 64 have no health insurance. That figure rises to 38% for Hispanic women. With such statistics, is it any wonder that we rank 46th in life expectancy and have high rates of infant mortality?

Ever since Obamacare was introduced back in March 23, of 2010, it has been one of the most controversial health plans debated by all government parties. The rich hate it and the poor love it. Is Obama care good or bad for the people and the economy? I believe it will be a stepping stone in the right direction for the economy and the people and protecting their rights.

In a perfect world healthcare, public schools, and Universities as well as other necessities that are important to everyday life will be distributed freely to all people. We live in a world of consumerism, therefore in order to advertise for everyone in terms of healthcare there needs to be a good variety of options that allows the consumer and people in business to fairly succeed. One proposal that I came to agree with is the American Health Reform Act of 2013 (AHRA). I will give a critical review of what the American Health Reform Act entails and how it differs from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for the better.

The Affordable Care Reform Act was passed to bring changes and improvement in the nursing field and health care system. There are many reasons that influenced the execution of the health care law. Many citizens from low-income families were unable to cater for their medical expenses. There was a shortage of nurses that were necessary to meet the high demands of the growing population. It is observed that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has brought significant effects and changes to the practice of public health and community health nursing (Koh & Sebelius, 2010).

This paper works to review the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its impact over the past 6 years. Through this paper, the Act enacted by President Obama in 2010 will be closely examined. The areas of focus in this paper are the conditions that led to reform, the key points of the ACA, and the impact the ACA has had on the country, and more specifically, the nursing profession. The first part will briefly explain the state of the country when the ACA was enacted. Later, within the key points of the ACA portion, this paper will identify important changes made to the health care delivery system, such as incentives, and the Pay-for-Performance (P4P) program. Finally, the paper will conclude by outlining the impact the ACA has had on the country, as well as on the nursing profession

The United States government spent 2.3 billion dollars in 2010 on federally funded healthcare initiatives and programs according to a report from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (2008). Despite this astronomical amount of money, health care disparities continue to plague disadvantaged populations in the United States. A health care disparity is defined as differences in incidence, mortality, prevalence, disease burden, and adverse health conditions that occur in specific population groups in the United States (National Institutes of Health, 2010).

According to the Census Bureau approximately 49 million Americans didn’t have coverage in 2011. The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act has only been extended to cover 32 million uninsured individuals mandates. The main issue of access to affordable care will be to exacerbated by limited community- based resources that provide preventive services, primary care access and the continuum care for patients with chronic conditions. There is a need to increase capacity to serve more patients, while improving outcomes and reducing cost. Health disparities in the U.S. range from HIV/ Aids to obesity. The minority population typically has a disproportional burden of the HIV/ Aids epidemic ( Wetle & Scanlan 2013). Disparities in healthcare are among the lines of access to care, treatment, preventive measures, and medicine. Several research projects were used to examine how ones race, neighborhood, or social classes affect their quality of care, and health outcomes ( Wetle & Scanlan , 2013). It was found that people who lived in lower income urban areas were found to have a lower quality of care. The study also found that these people were also prescribed stronger more dangerous medicine, and also paid higher co- pays. The Affordable Care Act was created to target, and eliminate health disparities (Adepoju , Gonzales , and Preston 2015). The ACA planned to improve health disparities by increasing access to care for minorities. In addition to improving access to care the ACA

Within the past couple of year, the United States as a whole has had challenges with improving the overall population health. The increase in healthcare costs has caused a distinct disparity within minority groups. Under the Affordable Care Act, cost and access has drastically affected many individuals. Despite the United States increase in spending, many are still uninsured and vulnerable to detrimental health outcomes. The uninsured have no access to sufficient and effective health care services, meaning they resort to little or no care at all. For example, different racial and minority groups are without access to Medicaid and Medicare due to its restrictions. Targeted groups such as African Americans and Hispanics have lower rates of health care coverage, access and overall quality of care. It is evident that minorities were misrepresented among the coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Apart from such target groups, whites appear to receive better health care coverage and outcomes. This has become a problem when it comes to health care access, meaning there are major health discrepancies. There is a disparity gap between the different ethnic groups that the Affordable Care Act fails to accurately address and provide provisions to such requirements for government-funded assistance programs (Shi & Singh, 2015).

In my view The Patients’ Choice Act that was introduced by Paul Ryan in 2009 would have been a better choice for the new health care reform than The Affordable Care Act. Even though there is no health care crisis of the uninsured, Ryan’s plan would have involved incentives for preventive care that could lower the cost of premiums and encourage healthier lifestyles. Under The Patients’ Choice Act, the American people retain their freedom whether to have health care or not; however the ACA has a personal mandate that requires individuals to carry health care insurance or face a fine (tax). There are consequences when people feel they have a right to health care instead of working for it. Ryan’s

Everyone has their own ways of obtaining information about every topic imaginable. There is not one set way of accumulating information, but there are some ways that allow better quality of information to be obtained. For example, some people use the media to find information on the Affordable Care Act and others use reputable academic sources to do the same. The media’s main focus for covering the Affordable care Act is for political reasons, where academia uses information about the Affordable Care Act in order to understand various cultural assumptions.

“We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice, and provides coverage that every American can count on. And we will do it this year.” The preceding is a powerful statement from the newly elected President Barak Obama. One of the main aspects of both political campaigns was health care reform. The above quote shows passion and encouragement, but the quotes about health care do not end there. Georgian republican gubernatorial candidate and health care policy maker John Oxendine expressed: “Their proposal would virtually devastate the private healthcare sector in this country along with competition and patient choice, by replacing it with bureaucratic planning and government control. The result of this plan and its one trillion

It has officially been over a year since the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, took the nation by storm. Along with its inception came a deeming quality as one of the most ambitious, as well as provocative, instances of health care reform the United States had ever seen. The basic premise of the law is an attempt to ensure that affordable health care is made available for all American public. This is accomplished by providing tax credits on health insurance plans offered by the government, such as Medicaid, to those who remain at a certain Federal Poverty Level and could previously not effort it. The idea is that these discounts would suddenly allow said people to have a better chance at doing so. In addition, the law protects patients with preexisting medical conditions or who suddenly fall ill, forbidding insurance companies from dropping them. It also allows young adults to stay on their parent’s plans until the age of 26 and lowers rates for seniors. Those opposed to the law have retaliated, citing increased taxes, allocation of Federal and State funding, mandatory health coverage and, new, unnecessary obligations that insurance companies must follow. It is important to remember that ACA’s background, as well as its general support, is Democratic while, the majority of those who oppose it are Republican. The clashing views of

Changes in access to health care across different populations are the chief reason for current disparities in health care provision. These changes occur for several reasons, and some of the main factors that contribute to the problem in the United States are: Lack of health insurance – Several racial, ethnic, socioeconomic and other minority groups lack adequate health insurance coverage in comparison with people who can afford healthcare insurance. The majority of these individuals are likely to put off health care or go without the necessary healthcare and medication that is needed. Lack of financial resources – Lack of accessibility to funding is a barrier to health care for a lot of people living in the United States