Obamacare: Change We Need to Believe in In 1965, as part of his Great Society Legislation, President Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law. With these two programs he concluded two decades of congressional debate of the future of health care. In the forty years to follow, the United States of America and its health care industry experienced dramatic changes. Population increased by over one hundred million people (Census Bureau), advances in medical technology supported a growing elderly population, diets and lifestyle habits changed, and health care costs outpaced both per capita GDP and wages. By 2010, America was long overdue for health care reform. That year, President Obama passed the Affordable Care Act (also the ACA or Obamacare), an ambitious plan of over 400 provisions for one of the nation’s most complex and powerful industries—an industry upon which millions of lives depend. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 fails to fully address the fundamental problems with American health care system, but serves a necessary and promising starting point for such comprehensive reform. What is the purpose of the American health care system, to begin with? The answer may seem obvious—to provide for the health of the American people. This answer is undisputed, in public and political forums, but in practice it is loaded with unseen conditions, and is far more contested that one would think. Should a public health care system provide for the well-being of all Americans,
The Affordable Care Act includes changes to Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and creates many conflicts and benefits around how it will affect health care in the future. Clearly, all items within the medical reform are connected, so that a positive impact in one area may inversely affect another. The primary change is the extension of health care coverage to the uninsured, but it comes with a cost. Costs include penalties, taxes, reduced medical access, and lower reimbursement rates for physicians and hospitals. The Affordable Care Act is conceived with a good purpose; as a result, everyone will now have access to affordable health care, although, “affordable” is not yet well defined. Health care providers will be able to continue their vocation of providing good care for our society, but in some cases, changes to insurance may still have a poor outcome.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the most current governmental effort to bring a national health care plan to the United States (U.S.). Policy makers in the U.S. are hopeful the ACA will be able to extend health care coverage to 47 million nonelderly uninsured citizens (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2014). The ACA broadens the Medicaid eligibility for low income individuals at or below the 138% Federal Poverty Line (FPL) and adds tax credits to assist people to purchase insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). In 2012, the Supreme Court the upheld the constitutionality of the ACA requiring most people to maintain a minimum level of health insurance, however they left the
At last, the law gave new alternatives and motivating forces to help states rebalance their Medicaid long haul mind programs for group based administrations and backings as opposed to institutional care. All in all, these arrangements have quickened Medicaid advancement effectively in progress in numerous states. Also improved with the ACA besides Medicaid, is Medicare. The Affordable Care Act incorporates a progression of Medicare changes that will create billions of dollars in reserve funds for Medicare and fortify the care Medicare recipients get. The new law secures ensured benefits for all Medicare recipients, and gives new advantages and administrations to seniors on Medicare that will help keep seniors solid. The law likewise incorporates arrangements that will enhance the nature of care, create and advance new models of care conveyance, suitably value administrations, modernize our wellbeing framework, and battle waste, extortion, and mishandle. A big topic that is affected from ACA is businesses. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- otherwise known as Obamacare -- is putting such a small dent in the profits of U.S. companies that many refer to its impact as 'not material' or 'not significant. Even after a provision went into effect this year requiring companies with 50 or more full-time workers to provide coverage, and after more workers are choosing to enroll in existing company coverage because of another requirement that all Americans get
Barack Obama was elected on November 4, 2008 to be the president of the United States. As he is the president, he implied many new suggestions in the United States, for example, the Affordable Care Act or The Patient Protection also known as Obamacare. The health care reform also known as The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or simply Obamacare became one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the United States since the mid-1960’s.1 This is the first attempt to reform the U.S. Health Care system of the United States since the 1960s, when the President Johnson created public Medicare and Medicaid, to help pensioners and the poor. The current reform was attempted back in 1993, however, unsuccessfully by Clinton’s
The United States of America is the most prosperous and free country in the world because of hard working citizens and the God-given freedoms we possess. America has contributed countless scientific and medical discoveries and accomplished feats deemed impossible by others. The wealth and progress in this country was not brought about by government intervention and supervision, but from individuals who had the freedom to do what they did best. Because of this freedom, America’s healthcare is currently unmatched anywhere in the world. Though other countries may tout free healthcare, they make it up with burdening taxes, understaffed hospitals, and incredibly long wait periods. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act puts America’s healthcare system in jeopardy of falling into the same trap. “Obamacare”, as it is referred to, moves America to a bureaucratized and overburdened system having far reaching consequences on taxpayers, professionals, and patients and should be repealed.
The Affordable Care Act, signed into law on March 23, 2010, consists of 10 titles which provide Americans with health benefits. Sometimes this is referred to as “Obamacare” or the Patient Protection Act. The basis of the ACA is to assure that Americans can afford quality health insurance, without discrimination, while making purchasing insurance competitive for buyers, while also eliminating the uninsured (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2015a). This allows the consumer to take control of their health care while making informed choices. By providing affordable health care, this will help reduce wasteful spending that does not improve the quality of health care, which could generate an annual savings of around $140 billion after a five-year period (Sahni, Chigurupati, Kocher, & Cutler, 2015). All American’s were required to be insured either by purchasing private insurance, by their employer, or
Generally, healthcare policy is a term that defines the layout, procedures, plans or actions that are utilized to acquire health care goals in communities or societies. There are different forms of healthcare policies, such as H.R. 3962, the ACA (Affordable Care Act). The official name of this policy is ObamaCare and President Barack Obama signed the act into law in 2010. This policy came about back in 2009 when a pool of Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that they were going to reconstruct the health care system. Senator Ted Kennedy was a primary leader in health care reformation and he died in 2009.
Healthcare has always been a topic of great interest among the American people. Previous attempts have been made to implement a healthcare system that benefits all Americans; however, the mandate of Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s has been the closest resemblance of universal healthcare system. In March of 2010, the President Barak Obama signed the most significant legislation for the U.S. healthcare system, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as the Obamacare. This law was introduced to improve the quality and affordability for the health insurance industry. This act would also minimize the insurance rates for the uninsured as well as expand coverage. At the passage
The Obama Presidency is known for many things: two wars, economy crashes, government shutdowns and, yes, the infamous Obamacare. Throughout the last six years, President Obama’s agenda was set towards passing a major healthcare reform bill: The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare. Passed on March 23, 2010 under considerable opposition, ACA is widely considered to be the landmark achievement of Obama’s presidency, and his hopeful legacy for historians long afterward. The law has since survived multiple challenges regarding its legality, but its impact on the intended (original) goal of reducing medical costs is still unclear. Affordable healthcare for all
With the implementation of two milestone in the healthcare system, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Health care education and reconciliation act of 2010. The ACA assist in easy access to high-quality and cost-effective and also assist in the shift of the nation’s health care system in the direction of primary and preventive care. Also the health care education and reconciliation act is an initiative to motivate nurses and provide grants and scholarships to acquire higher education and take active part in the reformed health care system. In order to create the health care system which focus on primary and preventive care, the role of nurses is very vital and important especially the advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) (Implementing Health Care Reform: Issues for Nursing, 2010). American Nurses Association always advocate and nurture nurses including APRNs and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) also acknowledged and recognized the role of APRNs in the provision of primary and preventive care. This acknowledgement of PPACA open the new horizon for the APRNs in the transformed patient-centered care system (Haney, 2010). In this presentation, the writer will discuss new emerging care delivery model which are mentioned in the PPACA. These delivery model involve interdisciplinary and care management services of RNs (The National Academies Press, 2011).
“On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, putting in place comprehensive reforms that improve access to affordable health coverage for everyone and protect consumers from abusive insurance company practices” (The White House, n.d.a, para. 1). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA – Obama Care) is an effort to reduce the cost of health care in America through a series of provisions taking effect between 2010 and 2018 (Fossum, 2012). Some of the provisions threaten collectively bargained contracts currently in place between labor and management. Local 384, the union representing employees at the General Materials and Fabrication Corporation (GMFC), is
The US healthcare team of professionals keeps on looking for ways of improving health services offered to citizens. In 1965, the Medicaid and Medicare Acts were enacted; President Barak Obama made regulatory changes in the same measure by passing the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010, following an enactment by the the111th Congress of the
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
U.S. health care reform is currently one of the most heavily discussed topics in health discourse and politics. After former President Clinton’s failed attempt at health care reform in the mid-1990s, the Bush administration showed no serious efforts at achieving universal health coverage for the millions of uninsured Americans. With Barack Obama as the current U.S. President, health care reform is once again a top priority. President Obama has made a promise to “provide affordable, comprehensive, and portable health coverage for all Americans…” by the end of his first term (Barackobama.com). The heated debate between the two major political parties over health care reform revolves around how to pay for it and more importantly, whether it
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.