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Affordable Care Act Case Study

Decent Essays

Prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, many Americans did not have access to health care. According to Shi and Singh, assess is an individual’s ability to obtain health services when necessary (Shi &Singh, 2010). “After implementation of the ACA, the proportion of the U.S. population that was uninsured dropped from approximately 16% to roughly 12% in 2014 (Shi & Singh, 2010, p 11). More low to middle income American are eligible for health care services through the Affordable Care Act. Advancements in health information technology have helped to improve and streamline medical services and have helped with the lower cost of health care. “Essential insurance benefits required by the ACA include preventative and wellness services, …show more content…

Requiring insurance company plans to cover people with pre-existing conditions, including pregnancy without an extra charge: insurance companies cannot reject a consumer’s application due to pre-existing condition or charge a consumer more due to the pre-existing condition
2. Provides free preventive care: Preventive care for adults/women/ children include abdominal aortic aneurysm one-time screening for specific aged men, alcohol screening and counseling, blood pressure screening, diabetes (Type 2) screening, immunizations for adults, and HIV screening, developmental screening, Autism screening, hearing screening, Hepatitis B, contraception , and STD screening.
3. Gives young adults more coverage options: young adults under the age of 26 can remain on their parent’s health insurance. The ACA offers student health plans for young adults who are enrolled in school (meeting certain requirements). Young adults who have low income or special circumstances can qualify for free or low cost Medicaid health care services.
4. Ended lifetime and yearly dollar limits on coverage of essential health benefits: insurance companies cannot set a yearly or lifetime dollar limit of how much coverage a consumer can spend on health …show more content…

Most nonelderly Americans gain insurance through employer based insurance plans. Some employers do not offer employer based insurances and of those Americans they still cannot afford health care. There are some states where Medicaid services are not available and those Americans are unable to pay for insurance and cannot afford the cost of the plans offered in the market place for the Affordable Care Act; some working Americans do not qualify for free or subsidized plans offered. Undocumented immigrant women who may be pregnant cannot obtain health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. According to a report, “While lawfully present immigrants under 400% of poverty are eligible for Marketplace tax credits, only those who have passed a five year waiting period after receiving qualified immigration status can qualify for Medicaid” ("Key facts about the uninsured population,"

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