Advocacy Role
Arqutia Hill
Tennessee State University
Health Policy NURS5001R56
Fall 2016
Professor Dr. Jacqueline Lewis, RN, MSN, PhD
October 7, 2016
Problem: Loss of Coverage In Tennessee alone, we are once again facing an obstacle under the umbrella of healthcare coverage. In 2017, 3 regions in the state of Tennessee will lose coverage from BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, 2016). It will leave 100,000 individuals looking for coverage through other marketplace plan providers. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee stated that they had to pull out of Obamacare in these three regions due to profit losses over the last 3 years (BCBST, 2016). It may seem simple enough to others that these individuals just go get another plan from someone else. We must first consider affordability. Will Cigna and Humana offer plans that are similar to the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee plans? Will consumers have nearly the same or the same benefits as before? There are many different changes that may occur by simply changing insurance plans. The consumers may not be able to have the same providers. They may not have the same medication coverage as before. The deductible could change and make the policy invaluable to the individual based on their needs. Obtaining coverage has been an ongoing uphill battle for some. Our state and federal legislators all share different views on healthcare issues. The Healthcare Reform Act of 2010 brought
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 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) had mame dramatic changes in the field of the health care system, especially in Medicare, that will seriously take effect in American seniors. Indeed, much of the health law’s new spending is financed by spending reductions in the Medicare program. In addition to the provider payment reductions, Obamacare significantly reduces payments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans by an estimated $156 billion from 2013 to 2022.( Elmendorf, letter to Speaker Boehner). About 27 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in MA plans, a system of regulated and private plans competing against each other as an alternative to traditional Medicare. MA plans are attractive to beneficiaries because they offer more generous and comprehensive coverage than traditional Medicare by capping out-of-pocket costs and offering drug coverage to a rasonable
The U.S. health care system faces challenges that indicate that the people urgently need to be reform. Attention has rightly focused on the approximately 46 million Americans who are uninsured, and on the many insured Americans who face rapid increases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs. As Congress and the Obama administration consider ways to invest new funds to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, we must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes. To do otherwise casts doubt on the feasibility and sustainability of coverage expansions and also ensures that our current health care system will continue to have large gaps even for those with access to insurance coverage.
The judiciary, executive, legislature, at both state and federal levels, are the three branches of government primarily responsible for the formulation of healthcare policies in the United States. There are other non-governmental organizations such as professional and ethics bodies that provide rules and guidelines in some health care policies.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the 2010 health reform act that could extend insurance coverage to as many as 32 million Americans, which also included policies that affect the quality of coverage insurers must offer (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). In addition to this, the ACA created a range of programs focused on furthering change in how medical care is organized and delivered, with a goal of reducing costs and improving quality and outcomes (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). However, these goals come at a cost. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact the ACA had on the population it affected in the United States as a nation, but specifically in the state of North Carolina; describe the impact of economics of providing care to patients from the organization’s point of view; examine how patients were affected by the ACA in terms of the cost, quality, and access to treatment; and explain the ethical implications of the ACA.
The Affordable Care Act established by Barack Obama it is a revolutionary law that was passed to change the healthcare system in America. The affordable care act has many pro and cons. Is the Affordable care a good idea? The Affordable care act was put in place to help maintain healthcare spending cost, reduce the amount of people who are uninsured, create universal healthcare, expanding coverage for young adults and to make prescription drug coverage more affordable for seniors. In the year of 2010 and 2011 over 5.1 million seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare have saved over 3.1 billion on prescription drugs, however this includes a one-time rebate
The negative impacts of healthcare reform to health systems are significant in that health systems are preparing their resources on developing Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) for bundled payments and population-based reimbursement. In this economy the impact to health systems may require healthcare systems to figure out ways to continue to keep positive financial performance due to the cost-reduction of healthcare reform. For some time now, health systems have subsidized their losses from the Medicare and Medicaid systems by contracting with commercial payers for their premium rates. As a result of the healthcare reform, cost shifting will shrink. Another negative impact over the next few years will be the large shift in health plan enrollment. Less people will be covered by highly
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
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 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which puts into place health insurance reform with the purpose of providing health care access to those who are uninsured and underinsured. The goals of the law are to make health care affordable, accessible and higher quality. In 2013, open enrollment began and now that three years have passed, it is a good time to evaluate how this law impacts Ohioans (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014-a). In this paper, I will discuss health care reform in Ohio, examine positive and negative outcomes, and look at the effect of the ACA on health care economics.
With every new election comes new legislature the 2008 election had to deal with the hot new topic the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA). Then when Barack Obama was elected into office, he wanted it to be changed to Obamacare. Obamacare and the ACA is relatively the same thing. It is referred to as Obamacare because he is the one who signed for it to be passed. Due to the stress that Obamacare has put on the elderly, state businesses and small local business’s think that the United States should discontinue Obamacare during the next administration.
Texas has the largest uninsured population with an estimated 6.2 million uninsured citizens within its stateliness, approximately a quarter of the statewide population (Rapoport, 2012). In 2012, then governor, Rick Perry decided that Texas would not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This decision led to much debate over whether or not Perry made the right decision to leave upwards of a million Texans, who did not receive insurance subsidies and did not qualify for Medicaid, uninsured. These Texans fell under what many politicians refer to as the “coverage gap.” Texas decided not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act because of the effects it would have on hospitals, financial reasons, and increased number of
Since the passage of the ACA, a total of 14.1 million adults have acquired health insurance coverage, however, a distinction must be made; the ACA was created to expand health insurance, not to better health care (Office of The Assistant Secretary For Planning and Evaluation, 2015). Texas being the number one state in all of the U.S. with "more than 5 million Texans" (19% of the population) uninsured in 2014 (this was a decrease of 700,000 individuals in 2013) would be expected to hold great support in order to lower the high rates of the uninsured (Walters, 2015). In order to understand the impact that the ACA has had on the U.S., but especially in Texas, it is important to look at what state officials say concerning the reform and
In Massachutettes, health plans wanted to eliminate “continuous open enrollment, assess the full annual penalty for any significant period of continuous un-insurance, impose waiting periods for certain services and bar consumers from buying in the merged market if they had access to employer sponsored coverage” (case study). Doing these things, the insurance companies hoped to lower premiums. Bill 2585 did pass but the law did not go as far as the insurance companies had hoped. It only “limited open enrollment in the merged market to twice a year in 2011 and once a year after that” (case study), which didn’t really help much. Due to loss in the small market group in 2009, health plans “planned double digit premium increases in 2010” (case study), but the government stepped in and put a stop to it. Even though the big name hospitals were driving up cost, the insurance companies were seen as the bad guys. This caused local plans to “record sizable operating losses for the first quarter of 2010 and had to draw on reserves to cover expected losses resulting from the rate rollbacks” (case study). The insurance companies, especially the smaller ones, suffered financially.
Thank you for your response and the question. Let me put it in this way, After the surgery, the donor may suffer from temporary disability and cannot work. And also the insurance company may deny coverage or increase their premium. Pretty much like care accident history and insurance coverage. Why should insurance companies be allowed to increase their premium or deny coverage? One way or other, the donor may lose money. Who is going to cover their loss, why should the donor suffer? I feel it is fair and just to compensate the donor.