The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on North Carolina’s Uninsured Population
Summary
This paper outlines the impacts that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had on different groups in North Carolina since its signing in 2010. First the paper discusses health care financing as outlined in the case study about "The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on North Carolina’s Uninsured Population" published in Health Policy and Politics Nurses’ Guide. Next it discusses the impacts that ACA has had on the affected population. The topic that follows analyzes the impact of the act on both small and large organizations. Finally, the paper discusses how this act has affected patients and concludes by analyzing its ethical implications.
Introduction
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The act objectives include ensuring that most residents get an insurance cover, expanding public insurance and subsidizing private insurance coverage, introducing new taxes from which to raise revenue and reorganizing spending under Medicare. This paper discusses health care financing as outlined in the case study about "The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on North Carolina’s Uninsured Population", published in Health Policy and Politics Nurses’ Guide. The paper further discusses the impacts that the act has had on the affected population, organizations and patients. Finally, the paper outlines ethical implications of the act. Recent health care system’ reforms in the United States have had a great impact on different groups in North Carolina.
Health Care Financing
Since the signing of the Affordable Care Act, health care financing has greatly evolved. Most people who were not eligible for Medicaid can now qualify if their income is within the stipulated range, which is wider than before. Through the act, states will make easy enrollment, carry out outreach to the affected populations and coordinate Medicaid, CHIP and Health Insurance Exchanges. Medicaid expansion plans do not include undocumented immigrants and legal immigrants who have not lived in the US for more than five years.
Impact of the Affordable
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Many questions have come up as the different groups struggle with how to provide quality health care of the masses without compromising the basic rights of even the few. Reforms such as expanding Medicaid eligibility, giving incentives to small businesses in order to provide health care benefits and subsidizing insurance premiums will lead to improved health care, and thus saving the lives of many people.
There exist sharp divisions among the American on the issue of reforms. Despite every citizen’s need for high quality and affordable health care, freedom of choice concerning healthcare and cost sharing in health care provision, there is a significant difference in priority that American citizens assign to these goals. Furthermore, there exist differences in values and beliefs. Most of these reforms made have greatly ignored human rights in that they treat quality health care as an option or privilege and not as a human
The concept of providing basic healthcare services to individuals in need has undergone an agonizing transition, from a luxury once only afforded by the affluent to a basic human right granted to citizens of every economic station, and the recently enacted Affordable Care Act (ACA) was designed to finalize this ethical evolution. Reflecting perhaps the bitter political enmity currently consuming the nation's once cherished democratic process, Republican legislatures in states throughout the union have bristled at the ACA's primary provisions, threatening all manner of procedural protestation as they attempt to delay and derail the bill's eventual implementation. One of the most intriguing aspects of the sprawling, thousand page law, however, has been the stipulation that individual states will be given a choice to either accept federal funding to expand their statewide Medicaid roster, or to forfeit all federal funding for that program in perpetuity. The role of government in monitoring and regulating the healthcare industry has been long debated, and the bitterly contested passage of President Obama's ACA, a law aimed at revising the country's health insurance system through the creating of a federal health insurance exchange to facilitate increased competition among insurers, has rekindled the debate over who holds the ultimate responsibility for regulating the care provided by hospitals, community clinics, and private practices.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a topic of dispute since its introduction and continues to be discussed by politicians in the U.S. and throughout the world even after its passage. The Act has many opponents and is the cause of much controversy nationwide, primarily because it introduces higher healthcare costs for the richest citizens. Nevertheless, the ACA is an important stage in the American healthcare development process as it not only allows more people to receive healthcare services, but will also reduce the deficit. However, not everyone agrees. The policy is controversial in terms of cost vs. benefits, but the benefits ultimately outweigh the costs.
The united states have a unique health care system of delivery that pursues to target some specific areas. The health reform, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also called the Obama care (2010), which holds the promise of universal health coverage under government mandates. With a predominant role that is play from the government the Health Care Reform is said to be, one of the most important pieces of legislation today. Universal health care is the pourpose that all citizens should have access to affordable, high-quality medical care and acces to primary care. Health care reform will provide every American with the ability to obtain, health insurance regardless of race, ethnicity, or income. With universal health care, everyone’s
The Affordable Care Act was passed to provide American’s better access to health insurance coverage. In addition to better access the ACA improved health care quality and lowered health care cost. The ACA reformed health insurance by expanding coverage, holding insurance companies accountable, lowering health care costs, guaranteeing more choices, and enhancing the quality of care. Although some states have not implemented all the benefits of the ACA, most citizens do have access to health insurance. This paper will address some of the general highlights of the ACA, how it impacted healthcare and the nursing practice.
On March 23, 2010, the Affordable care act also known as “obamacare” was signed into law by president Barrack Obama. Only gay marriage legislations and gun laws have elicited more public response than the affordable care act. Both opponents and proponents have presented constructive arguments of the perceived failures and strengths of the act. Owing to the intense debate surrounding the act, very few people understand that the act only came into full implementation in 2014. The raving reviews and critiques of the debate have bordered on myths and perception influenced by political alignments. Pertinent questions have been asked about the affordable care act. There have been conflicting accounts on the role of the affordable care act in regulating the health insurance industry. Concerns have been raised on why patients are paying higher out of pocket expenses yet the affordable care act was meant to introduce checks and balance in healthcare provisions. This paper therefore seeks to deeply explore the affordable care act by researching on these questions. The paper will also demonstrate perspectives on the good and the bad that comes from the affordable care act. Lastly, the paper will analyze healthcare situation in New York City with statistics showing that healthcare services are becoming more expensive in the city even after the full implementation of the affordable care act.
The goal of this paper is to explain the downfalls of Obamacare and share the stories of individuals affected negatively and directly by the approval of the policy. Although Obamacare set out with good intentions, many people are still left without health care coverage because of the constant revisions of the bill. There have been many taxes raised for the approval of this policy, and has caused problems for individuals who do not want coverage under Obamacare but would want coverage under a different company. Obamacare has helped some, but has caused other problems that would make it a bill that should be up for repeal.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is considered to be one of the most radical health care moves in legislation after Medicare. The reason being that it will provide universal health coverage to everyone regardless of circumstance. An evaluation of ACA’s influence on health care will be evaluated in this paper.
The Affordable Care Act promotes Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion is needed in North Carolina to insure the disabled and those that live below the poverty level receive adequate healthcare coverage. The resistance of North Carolina legislature in the promotion of Medicaid reform has retarded Medicaid expansion to its uninsured residents. The cooperation of the North Carolina legislature and its support of the Affordable Care Act is necessary for successful Medicaid reform. This paper reviews the impact of the Affordable Care Act 's lack of implementation in North Carolina.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) which was passed by Congress was implemented to improve the quality of health care and reduce the cost of health insurance in the United State. America spends more on health care than any other industrialized nation in the world. In North Carolina, the governor signed a bill to block the state from extending the ACA which will allow Medicaid to cover group of individuals that are uninsured. North Carolina rank 33rd of the 50 states in population measures in 2012 and rank 38th in health outcome (Siberman, 2013). In 2010-2011 approximately 1.7 million people were uninsured and had barriers to access health care in North Carolina as
North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM). Examining the Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in North Carolina, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.nciom.org
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a very controversial topic that I never quite understood until I got to read the supplemental chapter untitled “The Affordable Care Act: A Brief History, Assessment, and Future Challenges.” Throughout this paper, I will be answering five questions about the ACA. The first question has to do with listing and explaining three demographics that contributed to disparities in health insurance coverage prior to the ACA. There were many demographics that contributed to disparities in health insurance coverage in America prior to the adaption of the Affordable Care Act. Some of those demographics had to do with race, age, citizenship, or region of the country. One of them had to do with racial demographics, which
In recent years, health care has been a huge topic in public debates, legislations, and even in deciding who will become the next president. There have been many acts, legislations, and debates on what the country has to do in regards to health care. According to University of Phoenix Read Me First HCS/235 (n.d.), “How health care is financed influences access to health care, how health care is delivered, the quality of health care provided, and its cost”.
The Affordable Care Act (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), commonly called "Obamacare," is a federal statute that was signed into law in March of 2010 (PDF, n.d.; Van de Water, 2011). It basically requires the vast majority of people in the United States who do not have insurance coverage to acquire that coverage or face penalties. People who already have insurance through their employers or on their own will not be asked to change companies. Additionally, anyone who is on federally-funded insurance such as Medicaid or Medicare and still qualifies for those programs will not be removed from their insurance. They will still be covered and protected. In order to find out more about the Act and really understand its main points and principles, however, it is very important to be aware of how it became a law and any changes that have taken place to it from its inception all the way through where it is today. Only then can a person have a clear understanding of the Act and form an opinion as to the value it may (or may not) provide to the American public. There is still much speculation and a great deal of misunderstanding about the Act and what it involves.
Health care in the United States is driven by a patchwork of services and financing. Americans access health care services in a variety of ways — from private physicians’ offices, to public hospitals, to safety-net providers. This diverse network of health care providers is supported by an equally diverse set of funding streams. The United States spends almost twice as much on health care as any other country, topping $2 trillion each year. (WHO.INT 2000) However, even with overall spending amounting to more than $7,400 per person, millions of individuals cannot access the health care services they need.(Foundation 2009) So when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a the Affordable Care Act or ACA) was passed in the summer
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as “Obamacare”, has drastically altered healthcare in America. The goal of this act was to give Americans access to affordable, high quality insurance while simultaneously decreasing overall healthcare spending. The ACA had intended to maximize health care coverage throughout the United States, but this lofty ambition resulted in staggeringly huge financial and human costs.