Health Policy: Medicaid Expansion of the PPACA:
In the United States, there is an inequitable distribution of power, money, and resources that create health disparities among the different socioeconomic classes (WHO, 2014). The PPACA was created to affect the social determinants of health through the Expansion of Medicaid via the PPACA. An example of health disparities can be seen with life expectancy across the difference levels of social economical levels. In the United States, the upper class individuals live on average 20 years longer than those in the poorer classes (Marmot, 2005).
The federal government has created rules to expand Medicaid that include offering Medicaid medical insurance to all non-Medicare eligible individuals whom are under the age of 65 with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level which is based on the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) (KFF, 2013).
Social Problem:
There is expected to be roughly 17 million individuals becoming newly insured through the Medicaid Expansion of the PPACA by 2019 (Carrier, Yee, & Stark, 2011). The expansion of Medicaid will create a major supply and demand issue within the health care services. Simply put, the demand for primary care services will exceed the capacity of the current primary care infrastructure. This will only add to health care spending because the newly insured individuals will not have many options to obtain primary care services and they may be forced to use inappropriate services such
Primary care in the United States has been in a state of neglect or of being underfunded for a long time. This dysfunctional state has been allowed to occur despite evidence, which shows the importance of primary care in creating healthy outcomes and controlling costs. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) tries to address some of these issues by:
Adults, 65 years old and older and people with disabilities are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. Physician services and hospitalizations are covered by medicare. An additional supplemental program may be purchased to cover prescription drugs. Low income families and children may qualify for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Medicaid has significantly lower copays and out of pocket expenses compared to private insurance. Unemployed individuals may qualify for Medicaid depending on the state.
rehend the PPACA, one must understand the history of the United States’ health care system. The most successful and known reform would be the passage of Medicare and Medicaid. President Johnson’s main objective with his program was to provide health insurance to those over 65 years old, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to receive coverage due to retirement or being financially unfit to purchase health insurance. It has since been expanded to cover those with disabilities, and lower income families (“Overview,” 2015). Brady (2015) examines President Clinton’s attempt to massively overhaul health care in the United States. His plan, the Health Security Act (HSA), required employers to offer health insurance to their employees, and mandated that every US citizen purchase health insurance. This plan would have most likely expand health insurance to many more Americans; however, many feared the large tax increases, restricted options for patients, and with the lack of general support for the bill, it failed in Congress and was never implemented (p. 628). President Clinton’s failed attempt at health care reform opened up the door to future reforms, and it even shared multiple similarities to the PPACA. Smith (2015) updates the history of the health care system in America stating that “In the mid-2000s, America’s uninsured population swelled to nearly 47 million, representing about 16 percent of the population” and how “16 million Americans […] were underinsured” (p. 2). People
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
The framework of the PPACA allowed many individuals to receive better care. Implementing the PPACA was designed to profoundly enhance access to mental health services and expand coverage for uninsured Americans for federal agencies, businesses, states, and individuals. Health insurance corporations are unable to refuse coverage to anyone who has a pre-existing condition. When President Obama signed the PPACA into law, it was first and foremost intended to decrease the number of uninsured individuals in this nation. A vast proportion of Americans are covered through private insurances with an increase of 6.7 million newly enrolled citizens since 2014. In 2014, there was about 64% of Americans who was already covered through private insurances (Horgan et al., 2016). The PPACA provides an opportunity to bolster a broken mental health system that disproportionately ignores the needs of older adults.
“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
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 I have been in America for just one year, I have no idea what the congress is doing. When it comes to write an essay about the biggest legislative success or failure on the part of the 114th, the only thing I know is the Affordable Care Act, specifically Obamacare, because my parents are trying to enroll in the program. After studying how the Affordable Care Act is doing, I found that although many people claim that there are many problems that are difficult to fix, the Affordable Act is doing “better than even many supporters realize”, (Krugman).
In the first quarter of 2016 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) legislation has lead to 20 million Americans gaining healthcare coverage, and a record low uninsured rate of 8.6 percent (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services [DHHS], 2016). Yet the verdict is out on whether the PPACA has been an improvement or a liability holding back the United States (US) healthcare system’s potential. The legislation was first integrated as a guide to the US healthcare system when it was signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010 (Rosenbaum, 2011). It planned to fulfill goals of improving access, affordability, and quality in healthcare (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services [DHHS], 2015). Full implementation of the healthcare reform was established on January 1, 2014, marking the start of individual and employer responsibility provisions, state health insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansions, and individual and small-employer group subsidies (Rosenbaum, 2011). As a whole the PPACA intended to “reframe the financial relationship between Americans and the health-care system to stem the health insurance crisis that has enveloped individuals, families, communities, the health-care system, and the national economy” (Rosenbaum, p. 131, para. 2). While the legislation has not fully
Why is Medicaid a huge topic in Texas and how does it relate to me? This is one important question to consider. Well this paper will help shed light to the matter and illustrate the urgency for action. Just recently Texas had an option to extend Medicaid, but hastily denied. Medicaid Expansion was part of the Obama care reform in which the federal government gave the 52 states an offer to expand the current Medicaid in was that it would include the coverage of low income adults not only children. The latest on the issue is Texas had agreed on a deal but only temporarily. The agreement on the reform has given Texas some light, but not enough to reach through the other side of the tunnel. Eventually, Texas
One of the states that have not participated in the Medicaid expansion is Florida. States that are opting out in the Medicaid expansion can leave several citizens uninsured and their health will be at risk. Currently, since the America’s Supreme Court has given the states more flexibility relating to the Affordable Care Act, some states are opting out of the Medicaid expansion plan that is intended to give low-income citizens in the state dependable healthcare. To reasons the state of Florida opting out the Medicaid expansion, the governor of Florida stated, that Floridians are more interested in economic growth and employment, better quality of education for their children, and that they keep the cost of their living low. Florida State is
This paper covers the topic of Texas refusing to expand Medicaid. We will look at where the social welfare program came from, and also look at Obama and his affordable healthcare act in relation to how that is ties into the expansion of Medicaid and why Obama president felt that it was important. We will look at Governor Rick Perry’s along with Governor Greg Abbott’s viewpoints and why it is they that feel expanding Medicaid would not have been in the best interests of Texas. Finally we will take a look at my viewpoints on all of the issues currently at hand.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or, more commonly, Obamacare, is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law mandates United States citizens to obtain health insurance coverage and businesses of 50 or more full time employees) to provide health insurance to its’ employees. Should you not be covered, a penalty will be imposed.
States are being pressured to expand Medicaid to families earning up to $30,000 a year, just like the Affordable Care Act permits. While several respected governors have agreed to expand the program, many other governors and state legislators are cautious. These officials do not want to deny Americans their access to health care, however they do want to slow the expansion of a program that will provide them with limited access to quality care while destroying state budgets. One of the strongest arguments that can be made against the expansion of Medicaid is the fact that States simply can not afford it. The appeal to states to expand Medicaid is that the federal government will cover 100% of the cost through 2016 and eventually lowering to
In present times, people with high incomes that’s above the 100 percent poverty level is eligible for premium subsidies to purchase private plans in the health care market. Individuals that are below the 100 percent of poverty in states that don’t wish to expand Medicaid; do not have access either to subsidized private coverage or Medicaid (Garber & Collins, 2014). Originally, the law require that all states expand Medicaid eligibility, to enable those people living with income that is increasing to 138 percent of the poverty level. These factors are equivalent to $15,856 for each individual and $32,499 for a family living in a single dwelling (Garber & Collins, 2014). In 2012, the Supreme Court made these regulations optional for ruling.