Equitable Coverage And Access For Health Services

In 2010, the United States created The Affordable Care Act (ACA). The objective was to share the responsibility of costs between the government, individuals, and employers to provide affordable access to quality health insurance. “However, health coverage remains fragmented, with numerous private and public sources, as well as wide gaps in insured rates across the U.S. population.” (“United States: International Health Care System Profiles,” n.d.). Each individual state within the US, generally has control over private insurance.

Understanding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) can be problematic, the goal of the ACA is to address the fact that millions of Americans do not have health insurance, yet they are contributors to the health care market, consuming health care services for which they do not pay. While this may seem to be a great idea, many Americans are not really sure how they are affected by this Health Care Reform. The goal is to make health insurance affordable, secure, and reliable for all. The ACA is a minimum coverage provision, individuals are given health insurance by amending the tax code. There is an individual mandate which stipulates all non-exempt individuals must maintain a minimum level of insurance or pay a tax penalty. ACA extends Medicaid, states have to accept or they will not receive Federal funding. The act also includes an employer mandate to obtain health coverage for employees. The Affordable Care Act has changed the way health care is provided and the way individuals will participate (The Affordable Care Act Cases. (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2015)

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or ‘Obamacare’ in 2010 and its implementation in 2014,there has been a steady decline in the uninsured population of the United States of America. The number of Americans with health insurance, has reached a historic peak. According to recent data from the Census Bureau about health insurance coverage, the number of uninsured Americans fell from 33 million the year prior to ACA implementation to 29 million in 2014.The total uninsured rate dropped by more than 4 percent since the health care law took effect. The ACA has significantly reduced the number of Americans who were not able to acquire health insurance due to poverty, unemployment, or having a pre-existing condition.

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.

On March 23,2010 the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into law. This act aims to provide affordable health care coverage for all United States citizens. “The Affordable Care Act affirms the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care.” (President Obama) It will provide insurance to more than thirty million people who have been previously uninsured, and will be achieved by expanding Medicaid and extending federal subsidies to the lower and middle income Americans to aid in purchasing private coverage. Although many attempt to view it in a completely positive or completely negative way it affects all aspects of the health care industry in various ways.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in 2010 and was designed to insure millions of people, who did not have health insurance, reduce out-of-pocket expenses for families and reduce costs for small businesses. In essences, when enrollment opens in 2013, the ACA law will target the 42 million Americans that according to a Census Bureau Survey are uninsured (Klein). Indeed, Obama Care from a utilitarian point of view is a huge improvement in medical services to a larger proportion of the population, that prior to this law did not have insurance available to them, including improved availability of health care services and reigning in out of control insurance companies.

Charles, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was intended to correct the historical issues related to cost and access in the health care system in America (Pagel, Bates, Goldmann & Koller, 2017). The ACA was an attempt by the US government to ensure access to health insurance was available for more Americans. The historical role of the government in health care prior to the ACA had been that the government should only have a little involvement in the delivery and reimbursement of services with respect to having a role in policy making for the protection of the public’s health (Williams & Torrens, 2008). The role of government involvement has changed through the Medicare and Medicaid government programs. Today, these programs have the

Prior to The ACA, the United States was primarily composed of a private health care system. This meant that employers, families or individuals would buy health insurance through private insurance companies. There were also Medicare and Medicaid government insurance programs for qualifying individuals. (Bradey, 2016) Typically the Medicare program is reserved for those individuals who have reached retirement age and Medicaid is for the poor. There are exceptions to each of the programs that this paper will not explore.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in 2010. The goal of the ACA is to provide affordable health insurance coverage for all Americans. The ACA was also designed to protect Americans from insurance company schemes that may increase patient costs or restrict care. Millions of Americans have benefitted by receiving insurance coverage through the ACA, especially those who are unemployed or have low-income jobs. Some could not afford insurance because they could not work due to a disability or family obligations. Others could not get health insurance because of pre-existing medical conditions. “More than 45 million Americans are uninsured, and as a result, they experience increased morbidity and mortality”

There are several disparities where health care is deprive between minorities African American, Hispanic and low-income communities. Healthcare quality and access to care are unequal among racial and low-income groups. Black American and Hispanic have face with poor access to health care among any other race, and the low- income family who have been offers low stander of care according to the American Medical Association eventually suffer from” higher mortality rates, higher incidence of major diseases, and lower availability and utilization of medical services” (50-I-95).

What are some words that come to mind when Americans think about health insurance in this day in age? Expensive, deductibles, out of pocket, mandatory, out of network, copayments? Those words sounds just about right. Well, thanks to the affordable care act hopefully those thoughts should and have changed. Maybe subsidy, assistance, affordable, for everyone would be some words that come to mind. All focusing on what some call Obama Care which is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and officially called The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The ACA was designed to reform not only healthcare but health insurance industries as well. It is now a federal statue in the United States of America that was signed into law in March of 2010 by President Barack Obama. Although created 5 years ago, the major phase began in January of 2014. Hospitals and primary physicians were to turn their practices around financially and even their technology in order for better health outcomes and lower costs to come about all while improving their services. In other words, practices were to increase the quality of services that they provide and at a lower and affordable price for consumers. There were a lot of backlash and confusion that came from Americans because of the act. Yet, there are great outcomes and there are also things that can be better about the ACA. Let’s take a look at the beginning, present and even possibly the future.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) (ACA) or Obamacare is the most signification change the U.S. medical system since Medicare and Medicaid reform during the 1960’s. The Affordable Care Act or ACA is designed to ensure that all Americans have medical coverage. It gives those that were uninsured a means to now have health insurance, offers a more affordable coverage to those who couldn’t afford their premiums, expanded the limitations on public insurance and subsidizes private insurance coverage, and with Medicare, expanded, reorganized, and reduced cost on some additional supplemental options. Identifying the

The macroeconomics of the competitive health insurance marketplace has been disrupted by government involvement through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 was designed to increase the quality, availability, and affordability of private and public health insurance for over 44 million uninsured Americans. NEED SOURCE The law included new regulations, taxes, mandates, and subsidies, which served to reduce the number of uninsured by about 20 million over the seven years NEED SOURCE. Conversely, in 2017, insurance company losses led to a number of high

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.

Access to health care is an important aspect of health and development in general. According to the WHO, access to healthcare is an important measure for the performance of a well-functioning health system and economic development33. It constitutes the defining element of primary health care, of the 1978 Alma Ata declaration30(in the quote below), the universal coverage in 201231 and sustainable development agenda in 201525.