ACA Advantages

In 2010 the ACA was passed that expanded Medicare eligibility to include those with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level (“ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion,” n.d.). This helped the most impoverished people by providing them with health coverage. Because states cannot be forced to participate in the ACA's Medicaid expansion, not all states have expanded their Medicaid programs to cover individuals with household incomes below a certain level (“ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion,” n.d.). This created a Medicaid coverage gap in between those who can afford health insurance and those who qualify for Medicaid (“ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion,” n.d.). This means that not all U.S. citizens have any type of insurance coverage or access to health

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a health care reform law that was voted into enactment in March of 2010 (Summary of the Affordable Care Act, 2013). The ACA consists of many different parts of which come from the Affordable Health Care for America Act, the Patient Protection Act various parts of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d.). The original goal of the ACA was to cut back on the amount of dollars that was being spent on health care

Implementation of the ACA would require an extensive expansion of the Medicaid program to low income adults in each state.³ The Congressional Budget Office projects that a previously 30 million uninsured Americans, approximately 92% of the legal, non-elderly population, will have coverage by 2022.³ The federal government will pay for 100% of the costs of expanding Medicaid programs until 2016, and then gradually fade their contribution to 90% by 2020.³ Currently, expansion of the Medicaid program is voluntary and several states have stated that they intend to turn down their share of the billions of dollars that has been made available to each state solely for the expansion of this program.³ States deciding to not expand their Medicaid program will not only exclude many poor, vulnerable families from access to an important health care program, but will also exclude themselves from an economic stimulus for their state and thereby decrease the strength of their health care delivery systems by not allowing them to be more financially stable for the long

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) reform law is set up by the federal government to ensure that all Americans have access to quality and affordable care, protect people with pre-existing condition from being denied by insurance companies and to control healthcare cost

Realistically, a family of four just above the poverty line wouldn't be able to afford health insurance even if they were

It was also hoped that the number of uninsured people would dramatically decrease by offering Medicaid managed care coverage to low-income families and individuals that were not Medicaid eligible. These services and coverage could be delivered through the Medicaid managed care carriers and be covered by the cost savings.

Money plays a huge role in access, therefore it is a vital issue to discuss. Within the current system, lack of money results in lack of health care, which leaves thousands of people without any health care coverage. Between 2001 and 2005, the number of people paying for health insurance increased 30%, however income only raised 3% (Health Care Problems). Adequate income is a necessity and unfortunately that is not present. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the average annual premium across the country is $16,000. Currently, the average annual income in the United States is $51,107. Mint Money Management suggests that about 4-6% of one’s total income should be spent on insurance, including life, disability, and health insurance. However, the averages in the United States show that the average person spends about 31% of their income on health insurance, which is not financially beneficial. When this rise in health insurance is not parallel to the inflation of income, innocent people are left without a method to achieve health care. There is a program for those who can’t afford health insurance out of pocket nor have access to it, and that is called Medicaid. Issues still exist with the program. There is only so much funding, which leaves many still uninsured. Additionally, people with Medicaid have difficulty

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) extended healthcare coverage to millions of formerly uninsured individuals by expanding eligibility of Medicaid and the formation of Health Insurance Marketplaces. The ACA also included reforms to assist individuals sustain coverage and have the availability of affordable and accessible private healthcare insurance. Analysis from 2014 and early 2015 and have shown significant increases in public and private healthcare insurance coverage and have attributed the remarkable decreases of the rates of uninsured individuals from marketplace.gov and health insurance exchanges from the first year the ACA had healthcare coverage available.

Expansion of the Medicaid program is an important part of the PPACA (Vincent & Reed, 2014). To decrease the number of Americans without health insurance coverage, the Medicaid expansion is designed to provide coverage for individuals with incomes of up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Individuals with incomes of 100% to 400% of the FPL, who did not qualify for Medicaid, would be eligible for subsidies in the Insurance Marketplaces mandated by the passage of the PPACA (Sommers, 2015) . In the states that do not expand Medicaid, Sommers (2015) notes that individuals who do not qualify for Medicaid and have incomes below the criteria to receive insurance subsidies in the healthcare marketplace will remain uninsured. The Medicaid program is jointly funded by the federal

Obama realizes that a strong nation needed the good health of all people. As a result, President Obama brings the Obamacare health insurance into the marketplaces to reduce the health care costs and to get access to health insurances easier as well. Under the Obamacare, there are no people to be denied coverage for

Eligibility for Medicaid expanded to groups like childless parents, all children and other parents not entitled to the Medicaid. To kick start this reform, the state would cover the whole cost for the non-eligible population for a period until they can cover the costs. Enrolment to the Medicaid made easy through websites and those who are disabled would get care in the community.

Unlike the middle and poor classes, higher income earners are expected to pay greater sums of money as taxpayers to cover the expenses of treating poorer people. The number of services provided based on this increased payment is greater than what those covered previously received, though the services do not always meet the needs of the persons insured and rarely corresponds directly to the payment made by wealthier taxpayers. For example, the premium for people who are considered living beyond the poverty line is no more than 9.5% of their monthly income (Dunn 70).

Medicaid is a social health care program that covers nearly 60 million Americans, including children, pregnant women, seniors, parents and individuals suffering with disabilities. Medicaid is the biggest source of funding for health related services and medical needs for the people with low income in the United States. This program is funded jointly by the state and federal level governments, but it is the state’s responsibility to manage this program. The Medicaid program is not a required program that states have to use, but all 50 states have implemented this program. With the introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and its passing in 2010, the ACA unveiled its plans to expand Medicaid eligibility to nearly all low-income adults as an addition to the other groups that fall into the Medicaid eligibility. The Medicaid program had “many gaps in coverage for adults” because it was only restricted to the low income individuals and other people with needs in their own specific category. In the past, the majority of the states who had adults that did not have children dependent on those parents were not eligible for Medicaid. These low income adults without dependent children would be without medical insurance assistance before the ACA was introduced. Medicaid is now available to all Americans under the age of 65 whose family income is at or below the federal poverty guideline of “133 percent or $14,484 for an individual and $29,726 for a family of four in 2011” (NSCL).

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 23rd, 2010 by President Barack Obama. This radical health care law was a much-needed step in comprehensive health insurance reform. Three important features of the Affordable Care Act are 1. Improving quality and lowering health care costs 2. New consumer protections and 3. Increased access to healthcare. (Key Features. 2014). Under the umbrella of these three key features additional benefits include free preventive care, drug discounts for senior citizens, increased protection against health care fraud, small business tax credits, increased access to health care through the health insurance marketplace, consumer assistance, and non-discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.

According the Federal Register: Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines published on January 25, 2016, the poverty level for a family of 4 is $24,300 annually. What this would mean to my family now is that my older children would struggle to finish medical school, I would have to drop the insurance plan on my 21-year-old child with a disability leaving her without the ability to access some life sustaining treatment. As a single mother of three, we lived at or below the poverty level for most of their childhood.