Health Policy Analysis Paper Introduction: The face of healthcare has been changing over the last decade. The role of nurse practitioners has become ever more important. This paper conducts a policy analysis as a systematic investigation of alternative policy options, for the emerging nationalized healthcare plan and the increased use of nurse practitioners. It looks at the goals of nationalized healthcare 's use of nurse practitioners and discusses to what extent this policy meets these goals. This paper begins with a detailing of the problem addressed by the policy and the goals and objectives of nationalized healthcare 's increased use of nurse practitioners. Next, alternatives to meeting the increased needs of the health industry, …show more content…
There are nine primary components for this reform. These include: affordable health care for Americans, role of public programs, improved quality and efficiency of healthcare, improving public health and chronic disease prevention, healthcare workforce, program transparency and integrity, increased access to medical therapies, community living assistance, and revenue provisions. The problem this piece of legislation hopes to address is the estimated 45 to 75 million of Americans who are uninsured and the additional 50 million who are under-insured (“The United States”, 2010) Evaluation Criteria The evaluation criteria to determine the effectiveness of this policy must include a variety of facets. First, there is the obvious quantitative evaluation method in determining how many Americans are uninsured or under-insured after the plan is fully implemented. It is estimated that the policy will provide coverage to more than 94% of Americans (“The Patient Protection”, n.d.). Although serving these Americans is a primary goal of the Act, whether or not all of the people will be served is yet to be seen and will need to be monitored. In addition, the quality and efficacy of healthcare is another primary concern of this policy. To monitor this, other statistics will need to be monitored, such as the level of care patients are receiving.
“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice.” Public Health Reports. Association of Schools of Public Health. n.d. Web. 14 July 2015. This paper claims that the PPACA will cut the number of uninsured Americans in half. The act attempts to provide nearly universal coverage and improve the quality and equity of said coverage through reforms to insurance standards and the marketplace. It also attempts to improve the quality of healthcare and the efficiency of its delivery by allowing consumers to edge the system into a more integrated state and measuring performance. It attempts to encourage preventive medicine by targeting chronic illnesses and funding community-based medicine. These changes will bring huge opportunities for improvement in the system, many of which are subtle and nuanced and will only be seen as the plan rolls into act over the next few
This public health policy paper will discuss and outline the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as well as barriers and controversies surrounding the policy and its relevance in nursing profession. The ACA will eventually affect everyone. Statistics reflecting United States health outcomes have proven the need for the initiation of policy formation within the United States healthcare system. “In March 2010, President Obama signed into law a comprehensive health reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).” (Estes, Chapman, Dodd, Hollister, Harrington, 2013, p. 144) The ACA promotes preventive care—including related services and family planning—that should result in improved health outcomes and
Simultaneously, health and healthcare policy plays a tremendous role in the quality of life of every American. Likewise, by the government constantly interceding, health and healthcare is significantly influenced by the political climate and undertakings of administration; therefore creating a conflictual split between republicans and democrats. Health care is regarded as a product rather than a human right shaped by policymaking. Policies establish healthcare service stipulations, which are rooted in local, state, and federal statutes combined with landmark court decisions. Not only does policy focus on healthcare services; but, it also places a substantial emphasis on cost-efficiency and equality.
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
Large populations of Americans are uninsured mainly because of the high cost of insurance. Majority of the uninsured are the low-income working families’. The adults represent a higher percentage of the uninsured than children. Before the law, you could be denied coverage or treatment because you had been sick in the past, be dropped mid-treatment for making a simple mistake on your application, hence, the Affordable Care Act was implemented into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barrack Obama to make sure that every American irrespective of their status will be insured and have full access to proper health care benefits, rights and protection(1). To understand the
Close to half of each dollar spent on healthcare is inefficiently used both at a clinical and administrative level. Three other areas that funds are not appropriately in are insurer overhead and profit and over priced pharmaceuticals. Projected figures for the first year estimate that just in administrative costs alone the citizenry should see approximately twenty billion dollars worth of savings in the first year. Another area that will put approximately $5.2 billion dollars back into the budget will be that this program will allow the state purchasing power for mass quantity pharmaceuticals and durable equipment. Finally by increasing the emphasis on preventative care and making a primary care physician available to all will add another $3.4 billion. Last but definitely not least, it is estimated that this bill will dramatically reduce fraud approximately $800 billion dollars in healthcare spending. Total savings for the first year are projected to be approximately $29 billion dollars. The projected plan is to use this money for the purpose of providing healthcare to the populous that is currently without health insurance. With these savings and more efficient use of funds all residents will have comprehensive healthcare that at this point was leaving twelve million without it as well as not increase spending (Amaro
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 ACA is made up of a series of additions of and changes, to the multiple laws that are made up from the legal framework of the U.S. healthcare system. This act establishes the basic legal protections that have been nonexistent to the United States, will now guarantee access to affordable health insurance coverage for Americans, from when they are born, all the way through his or her retirement. The act hopes in cutting the number of uninsured Americans by more than half of the U.S. population (Rosenbaum, 2011, p.130). This law hopes to result in health insurance coverage for about 94% of the American population (Rosenbaum, 2011, p. 130). This will reduce the population of uninsured Americans by 31 million people, and increase Medicaid enrollment by 15 million recipients (Rosenbaum, 2011, p. 130). Approximately 24 million people are still expected to remain without a coverage plan. The act has several goals. For instance, one goal of the ACA is to have a close to universal coverage system, with the help and responsibility among individuals, employers, and largely, the government. The second goal is to improve the fairness, condition, and affordable prices of health insurance coverage for Americans (Rosenbaum, 2011, p. 130). Lastly, a third goal is to improve the quality of health care through value, excellence, and effectiveness while trying to reduce inefficient spending and making the healthcare system more reachable to a diverse population (Rosenbaum,
In March 2013, President Barack Obama signed a federal statue into law that would change the way Americans receive healthcare. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as the Affordable Care Act, and sometimes called Obamacare is the most significant revision of the U.S. healthcare system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid back in 1965. The main function of the Affordable Care Act is to improve hospitals’ and physicians’ practices financially, technologically, and clinically so the health outcomes and lower costs. Americans are split, as they are with most political issues, on whether or not the act is a viable solution to our healthcare problem. Even though it has had its problems such as a faulty website and being thought of as too complicated and expensive for the American government to take on, I believe the Affordable Care Act is a good solution for the healthcare problems in our country.
On March 23rd of 2010 one of the most highly controversial bills in American history, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), better known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed into law. The Affordable Care Act attempts to reform the healthcare system by providing more Americans with affordable quality health insurance while curbing the growth in healthcare spending in the U.S. The reforms include rights and protections, taxes, tax breaks, rules for insurance companies, education, funding, spending, and the creation of committees to promote prevention, payment reforms, and more. Four years since being passed has the Affordable Care Act begun to make healthcare more affordable to Americans? When it comes to the affordability of health care In the United States, health care has always been a private for-profit industry. The main purpose of the ACA is to make insurance more affordable and expand coverage to uninsured Americans by enacting a number of provisions. This research paper will explore some of these provisions, document their details and decide whether are not they are truly helping make health care more affordable.
In 2010, the United States took the first tangible step toward universal health care coverage, with the legalization of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent report the total population of the United States is nearly 309 million people (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). In 2009, it was estimated 49 % of the population was covered under an employer sponsored insurance plan (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2009). The same 2009 data reported an additional 29 % of the population was covered under some form of government or public program (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2009). Leaving 17 % of the U.S. population vulnerable without any form of health insurance coverage (Kaiser
House Resolution (H.R.) 370 was introduced to Congress on January 9th, 2017 by Republican Rep. Bill Flores of Waco, Texas. The bill itself is quite simple, totaling two pages in length. The main purpose of the bill is repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), completely restoring or reviving the laws it amended as if it had never existed. Unlike similar repeals to the ACA, this bill does not have a replacement plan or any sort of alternate plan. It simply takes the ACA away and restores the law to their pre-ACA state. This is concerning for many reasons, but it may also have some benefits as well. The future of America’s health care is ever changing and it is more important
Universal Health care has been the topic of discussion among politicians and Americans today and has shown zero signs of slowing down in the future. The United States is considered one of the very few countries that spends an extensive amount of money on healthcare yet people are still struggling to receive care that’s needed and dying at a alarming rate due to the fact that they cannot afford insurance coverage for themselves and their families. In March of 2010 President Barack Obama implemented the Affordable Care Act, providing millions of Americans who previously did not have health insurance the ability to acquire and purchase premiums, however there are still some serous issues surrounding its implementation.” While the president
There are Currently 32 million people without health insurance in the United States. This means that roughly 83 per cent of citizens have to live day by day hoping they won’t get sick. For this reason, President Obama signed the U.S health reform bill into law. The health reform will make health care more affordable for citizens. Employers with more than 50 employees will be forced to provide coverage for all, or they will have to pay a fine. It will also make health insures more responsible. For example, health insurance carriers are forbidden from placing lifetime dollar limits on policies, from denying coverage to children because of pre-existing conditions, and from canceling policies because someone gets sick. It will also expand
In 2010, the Affordable Care Act invoked a $75 millon dollar demonstration project known as the Medicad Emergency Psychiatric Demonstration that was amended in section 2707 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The change seemed to be just what the nation needed, however, there was fine print added to the amendment that changed the interpretation. The fine print stated, patients who are on Medicaid from the ages of 21-65 seeking inpatient mental health care can receive treatment under the law. However, the inpatient facility will receive no