Health Care Delivery Chapter Summary

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.

The U.S. healthcare system is remarkably complex, and even healthcare workers struggle to understand it. The U.S. population gets health coverage by government programs, employers, and private insurance. Notably, because of the complexity and fragmentation of the health care system, there is a percentage of the population that remains uninsured. According to CNN Money, the uninsured rate in the U.S. dropped from 18.2% in 2010 to 10.3% in 2016, this drop was under Affordable Care Act(ACA) (). The goal of the ACA was not to give health coverage to all the uninsured population, rather it was to try to decrease the percentage of the population that remained uninsured(). There is a lot of inequality in the distribution of health among the U.S. population

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).

In 2009 there were 50.7 million people, 16.7% of the population, without health insurance. Americans all over the country are working and yet they still can’t afford to pay the high cost of health insurance for themselves and their families. Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, which was signed by Obama on March 23, 2010, thirty two million Americans who were previously not eligible for Medicaid may now have the opportunity to be covered. If this act is passed in North Carolina then it will be expanded to cover nearly all of the 1.5 million North Carolinians who are without health insurance. If more Americans are covered under the Medicaid that they need then

Medicaid has help many qualified Americans who were historically unable to access health care. At the same time, it has raised questions and controversies as how efficient is the plan overall. Various research studies were conducted and contradicting results were presented. According to Paradise and Garfield (2013), some said that having no coverage at all is better that having a Medicaid coverage. On the other hand, some expressed that Medicaid paved a way to improved health due to increased access to services that provides prevention of diseases, health maintenance, and effective treatment (Paradise & Garfield, 2013). As for me I am in favor of the later, health care access for all. It comes down to equitable distribution of resources

Throughout the early 1980’s and 1990’s the Federal Medicaid program was challenged by rapidly rising Medicaid program costs and an increasing number of uninsured population. One of the primary reasons for the overall increase in healthcare costs is the

In March 2010, one of the most controversial bills in modern history was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act expanded the 1965 bill passed under President Johnson that created Medicare and Medicaid (“LBJ Presidential Library,” 2015). While the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare” as it has been dubbed by the media, has many components, the focus here is the expansion of Medicaid. Obamacare sought to expand Medicaid to cover those who earn too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid, but not enough to afford employer-provided health care. These people are said to be in the “coverage gap” (“Obamacare Medicaid expansion,” 2015). While only 32 states have adopted Obamacare, we should advance a policy encouraging the remaining states to expand existing coverage by extending the period of federal government cost-sharing an additional five years. Doing so would give states previously refusing the cost sharing a second chance to opt-in. This expansion would save money for the states from some of the rising cost of healthcare, and fulfill our moral duty to care for uninsured Americans.

In 2010, the President of the United States signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law (Luther & Hart, 2014). As written, the PPACA will be the most extensive change in the financing and provision of healthcare in 50 years (Luther & Hart, 2014). The stated purposes of the legislation are to decrease the number of medically uninsured people as well as decrease the cost of insurance and healthcare for those already insured (Shi & Singh, 2015). Medicaid expansion is significant element of the PPACA and is designed to provide health insurance to the lower income population (Vincent & Reed, 2014). The purpose of this paper

Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, there has been a continuous debate about the effects it will have on the United States economy. Many people argue that expanding insurance coverage for all people will create crippling cost burdens for the economy and taxpayers. While others believe that the ACA will in fact give the economy a much-needed boost. In 2006 as a measure to improve overall healthcare, the state of Massachusetts implemented the Health Care Insurance Reform Act. This paper looks at the positive and negative effects of the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform Act (MHRA). Using a literature review of public health studies ranging from 2009-2012, I argue that there are both positive and negative effects of the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform. While the Massachusetts Reform increased health insurance coverage for all citizens and decreased the number of uninsured citizens accessing emergency rooms, it also did very little to decrease already existing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities among minorities and whites in the state of Massachusetts. Understanding the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform Act may help in the goal of trying to achieve near-universal healthcare. This paper provides an understanding of the missing pieces in the Massachusetts Health Care Insurance Reform Act and constitutes a starting place from which to understand the Affordable Care Act.

Healthcare in the United States is in a crisis situation. Healthcare costs are rising to the point where people are required to pay their health insurance premiums and deductibles over having enough money to cover groceries to feed the family. It seems our government is at odds in terms of the success with the Affordable Care Act and the outcomes we are witnessing from its’ implementation in our country. Many Americans understand the incentives of having healthcare insurance coverage and the benefits it can provide. With so many more individuals entering the healthcare insurance marketplace due to the guidelines of the Affordable Care Act we also see an impact to the supply and demand of healthcare availability and healthy outcomes.

This paper will discuss the early years and failed efforts that transformed the Medicaid program into what is seen today. A comparison between Medicaid and Medicare will be brief but is necessary because there are significant and critical differences between these government-funded insurance options. The substantial growth of Medicaid expenditures and beneficiaries are important and these trends will be looked at in detail. There have been provisions related to the unanticipated expansion of this program which will be reviewed. Attempts to expand Medicaid eligibility further need to be addressed (example: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). Stigmas that are associated with receiving Medicaid will be reviewed. I will share my

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.

The United States “spends 17.6% of the Gross Domestic Product on healthcare” (Niles, 2015, Pg.53). Two programs that are supported by this gross domestic product are Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is the “federal health insurance program for people who are 65 or older, certain younger people with disabilities, and people with End-Stage Renal Disease” (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, n.d.). On the other hand, “Medicaid is a program that helps with medical costs for people with limited income and resources” (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, n.d.). Without these programs the elderly, the disabled, and low income families would not be able to afford medical care or prescriptions. As a result, the health of these individual’s would deteriorate and they could possibly

Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century the United States has always had a realization that there was a problem with obtaining affordable health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in March 2010. This law enables people who were unable to afford healthcare the ability to obtain a healthcare plan at an affordable rate. In 2009 a survey was taken as to the amount of people in the United States that carried health insurance. In table one below you can see over 50 million people in the United States did not have any type of insurance, which is close to 17 percent of the population (see table 1 below). “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “32%