The Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” was designed to assure that all Americans regardless of health status have access to affordable health insurance. The Affordable Car Act was signed into law March 23, 2010. The primary goal of this act was to decrease barriers for obtaining health care coverage and allow Americans to access needed health care services (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). After the legislation is fully implemented in 2014, all Americans will be required to have health insurance through their employer, a public program such as Medicaid and/or Medicare or by purchasing insurance through the health insurance marketplace exchange (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). I will identify three parts of The Affordable Care Act …show more content…
They will now receive payments from the quality of care they provide to their patients. Those with higher based value will receive higher payments than their counterparts (Berenson 2010). I think this is very important because the healthcare system has been volume driven for so long that quality healthcare has been an issue for quite some time. In addition to value, this would definitely improve quality and efficiency needed for better patient outcomes.
Why is the healthcare system shifting from volume to value based? Why change the requirements now? Well, the traditional fee for service system allowed providers to receive higher pay based on higher patient admissions (Miller 2009). It is understood that just because more patients come to you for care does not necessarily mean that they are getting the best care. In fact, providers with increased patients may not be able to give each patient the highest level of care due to heavier workloads and increased patient traffic. The fee-for-service system allows providers to receive payments based on the volume and complexity of services they provide (Miller 2009). Higher intensity of care does not equal higher quality care. Hospitals, physicians and other health care providers gain increased profits by delivering more services to more people, which drive health care costs (Miller 2009). Moreover, current payment systems often penalize providers financially for keeping people healthy, like ordering a patient to stay an extra
The policy issue that I have selected to discuss herein is the pay-for-performance payment model. I feel that this impacts a large number of our population and changes in this regard should be made. This type of payment model aims to use reimbursement to incentivize providers to deliver high quality services. Pay-for-performance model steps away from the traditional manner of reimbursement of fee-for-service, in which providers receive payment on the basis of frequency or volume of the services they provide regardless of outcomes. In contrast,
The change to value based purchasing has bought many challenges to the healthcare industry. With the change to value-based purchasing for payments, it has changed how healthcare organization receive payment and delivery care. The advantage of have value based purchasing is that it improves the quality of care while reducing cost in an effort of aligning patient’s with the right provider and treatment plan (Minemyer, Jun 29, 2016). However, there are many disadvantages, such as it increases the patient volume as counteracting the reduction of procedure volume (Brown, B. & Crapo, 2016). Also it makes providers more responsible for care that is beyond the expected treatment of care needed (Minemyer, Jun 29, 2016). With quality measures tied
Now a statute, the physician/hospital pay for quality, not quantity, public law number: 114-10 signed April 16, 2015 also referenced as H.R.2 —1st Session of 114th Congress (2015-2016), sometimes called the “Permanent Doc Fix” 04/14/2015 : Passed Senate; 03/26/2015 : Passed House (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, 2015), which defines the payment and reimbursement reform to doctors treating patients with Medicare. This extensive reform includes the CHIP program insuring children and those families that don’t qualify for Medicare but are unable to afford private insurance and is funded by the federal government and individual states.
When president Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in March 2010, it came with a lot of new provisions that would vary when they would come into effect. The very first provision was the “Grandfather Clause” which allowed people to keep their insurance plan before the act went into effect. As long as the employer still offered that plan the employee could still maintain it because they were grandfathered into receiving that coverage. If someone bought an insurance plan after March 2010 they would not be considered under the Grandfather Clause. Thus, these individuals would be required to get a new plan by 2014 if their plan did not meet all the criteria, they would need to get a new plan that fills all the criteria. Another major provision of the Affordable Care Act is that patients have a guaranteed issue. This means that insurance companies are unable to deny anybody health insurance based on their health or prior health. This may create a problem because the risk pool of an insurance company may not have the best people. Eventually, this could lead to the majority of the risk pool for an insurance company to have people who are at a greater risk of needing health insurance. This will make the insurance company more vulnerable and the only way that they will be able to cover the losses is by raising the premiums on everyone even though there may be some individuals that are in perfect health. The next provision that was added under the Affordable Care Act is that the
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare or ACA, is the health reform law enacted in 2010 by Congress. The official name of this reform is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Many provisions of the law are already in effect and the rest are going to continue to develop until 2022. After a year of intense political wrangling, the health reform initiative was passed by Congress. Even though it falls short of providing universal coverage, it is unlike the Clinton proposal. The Affordable Care Act was intended to expand US citizens’ and legal residents’ access to health insurance coverage, control future costs, and improve the functioning of the healthcare delivery system. It improves access to care and balances spending through regulations and taxes. Healthcare has always been a crisis in the US and the Affordable Care Act contains hundreds of different provisions that address these aspects. The Affordable Care Act increases the quality of health insurance at an affordable price so all Americans can have access to it. In exchange, most people who can afford to obtain health coverage must by 2014 or pay a per month fee. The ACA offers Americans a number of new benefits. It sets up a Health Insurance Marketplace where we can purchase federally regulated and subsidized Health Insurance during open enrollment. It expands Medicaid to all adults in many states, as well as improving Medicare for seniors and those with long term disabilities. Obamacare expands
The Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, was passed in March 2010. This over-1000-page Act implements a number of reforms designed to increase the availability of health care for individuals. The Act created a Health Insurance Marketplace, a universal way to sign up for subsidized health care plans (which are cheaper), though you can only get certain plans from certain places, including an expanded Medicaid. It also creates an incentive to purchase health insurance-if you don 't, you 'll have to pay a fine, which is interpreted by many as a tax. Additionally, the Affordable Care Act requires sizable firms to provide a certain level of health care to all of their employees, with certain specifications. Obamacare also attempts to make health care cheaper for many, by trying to even out the cost for everyone.
The Affordable Care Act has been a hot topic of discussion for almost 6 years. The Affordable Care Act or, Obamacare, is a federal statute that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23rd, 2010. The Affordable Care Act guarantees access to health care for all Americans, mandates the exploration of new approaches to coordinated health care delivery, gives physicians more information to make them better clinicians and patients more information to make them more
The Affordable Care Act, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was put into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The focus of the Act is a health care law geared towards improving the health care system of the United States by broadening medical coverage to more Americans, as well as protecting the existing health insurance policy holders.
Obamacare refers to an Affordable Care Act (Archambault, 2014) in the U.S healthcare reform law which expands and improves the access to care services and reduces spending via taxes and legislations. The main focus of Obamacare is to provide more Americans with affordable access to health insurance and improve on the health care quality and health insurance in the nation. It regulates the health insurance industry hence reducing healthcare spending in the United Sates. The law features various provisions of the healthcare crisis aspect in the country. The affordable Care Act does many important things such as offering U.S citizens with rights, new benefits, and protectionism in relation to their healthcare. It sets up a health insurance marketplace where Americans can buy federally subsidized and regulated health insurance. Obamacare expands on Medicaid to U.S adults in many of its states. It also improves Medicare for the senior population and those with long-term disabilities. Every year during the annual open enrollment period, U.S citizens can access health insurance coverage using the health insurance market place.
Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare, is a new reform that was signed by President Obama in March 2010 and major provisions went into effect in January 1st, 2014. Obama’s goal with the ACA was that “the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their healthcare.” The ACA’s goal is to extend insurance to more than 30 million American people, by expanding Medicaid and providing federal subsidies to help lower- and middle-income buy private coverages. Another reform that is similar to the ACA is a Single Payer System that is trying to be pushed to fix the problems of the ACA such as eliminating commercial insurance.
The Affordable Care Act (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), commonly called "Obamacare," is a federal statute that was signed into law in March of 2010 (PDF, n.d.; Van de Water, 2011). It basically requires the vast majority of people in the United States who do not have insurance coverage to acquire that coverage or face penalties. People who already have insurance through their employers or on their own will not be asked to change companies. Additionally, anyone who is on federally-funded insurance such as Medicaid or Medicare and still qualifies for those programs will not be removed from their insurance. They will still be covered and protected. In order to find out more about the Act and really understand its main points and principles, however, it is very important to be aware of how it became a law and any changes that have taken place to it from its inception all the way through where it is today. Only then can a person have a clear understanding of the Act and form an opinion as to the value it may (or may not) provide to the American public. There is still much speculation and a great deal of misunderstanding about the Act and what it involves.
Obamacare may be one of the most debatable topics at the moment ever since 2010. For those who are still confused on what Obamacare is and how it works is understandable and common amongst Americans. Obamacare is also known as the Affordable Care Act. It can be summed up as a law that ensures every American has access to health insurance that is affordable and within their budget. This is done by offering people discounts on government-sponsored health insurance plans, and by expanding the Medicaid assistance program so they include more people who can’t afford health care. In order for someone to qualify for Obamacare they must have an insurance plan that covers at least ten essential services that pertain
The affordable Care Act implemented in March of 2010 by president Obama reform the way health care was previously run in the United States. The law went into effect, which allowed many Americans who did not currently have insurance and health care coverage to the ability to purchase coverage and access to health care. “ According to the CDC “ the affordable care act of 2010 is designed to provide access to coverage for previously uninsured Americans “ Center of Disease Control (2014).
Under payment, an ideal healthcare system will have the challenge of delivering higher quality for lower costs. The system’s payment reform will involve a transition from fee-for-service to global from systems that are value-based important for the achievement of the overall healthcare goals. An ideal healthcare payment system will give a great deal of support to value-driven system of healthcare delivery (Kent, 2013). The fee-for-service payment system will be of great importance to the healthcare system as it will help control the costs of health care.
The positive outcomes that have resulted due to value base programs have caused the model to gain traction and ignite one of the largest changes in history in the health care marketplace. By linking reimbursements to service quality, insurers such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have facilitated a massive leap forward in the performance of United States health care providers. This achievement is a considerable accomplishment in the face of an institution that has received reimbursement from insurers via a fee-for-service model during the last 75 years. Soon, valued based payment models will represent the norm as more insurers support initiatives such as shared savings program, integrated clinical care, and accountable care payment models.