Health care is one of the major political issues facing the nation today. Most industrialized countries have national healthcare system, while the United States only provide coverage for those who are eligible under government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. As the cost of health care to continue to increase, many question the role of the government while other blame insurance companies for increase in premium.
Healthcare costs in the United States have been rising for several years and show no sign of stopping. In 2008, the United States spent on 2.3 trillion on healthcare, more than three times the $714 billion spent in 1990, and over eight times the $253 billion spent in 19801. Although the large amount of money invested in healthcare does translate to better care for Americans, the worsening economic situation, rising costs, and federal government’s deficit have placed a great strain on the system. This includes private employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and public insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a private and non-profit healthcare analysis organization, “in 2008, U.S. health care spending was about $7,681 per resident and accounted for 16.2% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); this is among the highest of all industrialized countries”1. Concerns for the enormous strain on the financial systems that fund healthcare and the desperate need to provide adequate healthcare for Americans have driven many a President since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, to seek some type of healthcare reform and universal healthcare for all Americans. President Barack Obama succeeded where many had failed and on March 23, 2010, a national health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law. On March 31, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new rules
On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Healthcare Act into law. It had been estimated that 30 million people would sign up for the new healthcare act. As of April 15, 2015 the actual number of people that have signed up is 11,776,046 which is a far cry from what was predicted. Within the healthcare system all across the United States things are changing. How will the Affordable Healthcare Act impact the healthcare system within the United States? This paper will address what the Affordable Healthcare Act is first and then
In 2008, during President Obama’s campaign, President Obama announced that he would fight for a national health care system that helped millions of uninsured Americans obtain health insurance. The Affordable Care Act, also termed Obamacare, passed on Christmas Eve of 2009. While some people believe the Affordable Care Act is great, others are not too fond of the of it. From passing the bill, the government hoped to expand Medicaid eligibility to help more people whose income was meager or near poverty level. Although the idea was good, studies show that people of color, families in rural areas, and those with cultural and language barriers struggle to receive health care and pay for it. Furthermore, since Obamacare passed into law, the
Health care has been a controversial topic of discussion for all Americans since it was put in effect many years ago. Currently the biggest debate of Healthcare up to date is Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is a Health care Reform that is a governmental attempt to make basic health care easily obtainable. However, there are no benefits without cost in situations like this, and upon that are different viewpoints on the subject thus creating political debates discussing if it is ethically correct. The overall goal that Obamacare hopes to accomplish is that through specific changes through insurance companies, industry standards, and patient guarantees a healthier America will be produced. Obamacare has its ups and downs for both the generally agreeing democratic viewpoints and the opposing republican side. Both viewpoints have their own beliefs about how Health care works and Obamacare is somewhat in between on this. Most arguments on Obamacare deal with Medicaid being constitutional and if Obamacare truly reduces the total cost of health care for individuals and in the government.
President Barack Obama has been written into the history books for becoming the first African American president of the United States. The president plans on changing history again by bringing universal health care into the United States, which has won him much popularity among Democratic voters. His fans adore his speeches but raise many red flags for the majority of America. Major concerns Americans have with President Obama’s two proposed health-care bills are that health-care options will no longer be available along with the real cost of Obamacare, and small businesses. As many Americans believe Presidents Obama’s health-care plan is what the United States has needed for decades, considering he did get elected, his polices will prove to be a nuisance for the United States.
One of our nation’s most controversial topics since the year 2009, and still continues to affect our country, is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The Law was designed to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and protect patients from abuse or discrimination. The Affordable Care Act affects, all Americans, either in a positive or negative way. It is an issue that has come to separated our congress, it has divided the republican and democratic parties, to the point where the Government was shut down.
In 2016 the American population again saw their insurance plans increasing their premiums from 10%-13% across the board. This is much more than expected, and even worse the co-op insurance plans have failed. The government sponsored non-profit plans offering lower rates have not proven sustainability in result of the majority going bankrupt even after receiving 1.2 billion dollars of taxpayer’s money. The Affordable Care Act is already becoming a huge tax expense amongst Americans leading to the U.S. increasing the overall national debt. Starting 2018 all high end health insurance premium plans will come with a 40% excise tax. Also, changes in flexible spending accounts have occurred as over the counter medicines are no longer qualified expenses for flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts. The health care tax deduction threshold account increased to 10% from the previous established 7.5%. All these changes through different avenues account for more reasons we continue to see costs increase through the ObamaCare.
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
control of both houses of Congress by the Democrats led to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), often referred to as “Obamacare” was signed into law in March 2010 since then, the ACA, or Obamacare, has become a centerpiece of political campaigning” (Manchikanti et al., 2017). The Republicans now being in absolute in control of the presidency and both houses of Congress and are attempting to repeal and replace the ACA. Moreover, the future of the healthcare reform is still uncertain, especially due to the Republican party and by President Donald Trump. Affordable Care Act reform has given insurance coverage about 20 million people, reduced the cost of it, and improved quality of care to all patients. There are several laws of
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
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 new health care reform law in America, Obamacare, increases the quality, availability, and affordability of private and public health insurance to 44 million uninsured. It also is working to curb the growth in healthcare spending in the U.S. which has been rising at an unsustainable rate. Obamacare was passed in the senate on December 24, 2009, and passed in the house on March 21, 2010. It was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, and upheld in the supreme court on June 28, 2012. The concept behind Obamacare was the individual mandate, which requires that most Americans obtain health insurance by the end of 2014 or they will have to pay a tax penalty. This concept was first brought about by The Heritage Foundation as an alternative for the single-payer initiative, “Medicare”. This reform wasn’t proposed or expanded until it was implemented in Massachusetts by Governor Romney. During the 2008 elections, healthcare was a booming subject for the Democratic party.
In March of 2010 President Barack Obama reform Health care in America and implement a new law called the Affordable Care Act. “Millions whom previously could not afford to purchase insurance now had care drastically impacting the way health care would be delivered” (Wilson, 2010). “The Us spends 1.5 times more in health care than any other developed country and 2.5 times more than the average. At least $3000 more per person that Switzerland with comparable income yet americans die earlier and live in poorer health. Growth in the US Healthcare is Unstable , health care spending has doubled in the past 30 years rising from 9.2% of GDP min 1980 to 17.9% in 2014. Health insurance premiums have increased 97% the last decade “(Kane, 2012)
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.