Long Term Challenges for The Affordable Care Act

Since 1984, Medicare patients have been serviced under the prospective payment system of the Medicare program. Under this system, primary care providers are reimbursed for their services using a fixed payment for each patient that is determined by the patient’s diagnosis-related group at the time of the admission. Therefore, under the prospective payment system a hospital’s reimbursement is unaffected by the actual expenditures that are required to care for a patient.

In America today there are approximately 17.6 million children 18 and under who have a pre existing health condition. These conditions range from just having asthma or breathing problems to a serious disease like diabetes or cancer. Getting treatments for these conditions costs a lot of money. If your child is one of the 17.6 million that has a health condition how are you going to pay for the expenses? Now the insurance companies will turn you down since he or she has a condition already Or will they? With the new health care law in place now your son can get the health insurance he needs to be healed in no time. The Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” is the law that will change health care forever. Obamacare will help Americans because it will give every American access to healthcare, lowers the healthcare costs while improving the quality, and will give patients new consumer protections.

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.

Not only has the cases of preventable chronic diseases increased over the years affecting half of the U.S population, they account for 86% of the health care costs. Programs and policies that address risk factors and causes of these diseases at their roots would not only promote public health but reduce the cost of health care both in treatment and hospitalization.

Access to care has become a buzz word in the modern healthcare theater. The prevailing thought is that our healthcare system will experience a significant amount strain as an increasing number of individuals seek care with increased number of individuals being covered by third party payers under the affordable care act. Access to care has become a catch-all term used to describe the inability for an individual or population to seek needed healthcare services. Access to care can be divided into 4 major problems within a healthcare setting to include, physical accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and supply and demand. While the current state of our healthcare delivery system in regards to the changes implemented by the affordable care act has attempted to address affordability and acceptability. The affordable care act may have strained the infrastructure of our system in regards to the supply and demand aspects as well as physical accessibility challenges to many populations.

Americans have been faced with a new health care reform act known as Affordable Care Act initiated in 2010. Why was it so important for this nation to reform is health care system? How are we sure the ACA is improving our system for the American people? For many years, the health care industry has left many Americans uninsured. With health care costs on the rise and very few able to afford costs, and the quality of care in underserved areas not what it should be has left this nation largely unhealthy. Several landmark reports, including the Center for Disease Control factsheets and the Healthy People 2020 have astounding statistics confirming these alarming rates and clearly identifying the need for reform. The Affordable Care Act is the starting foundation for Americans to start investing in their own promotion of wellness and disease prevention. By choosing healthier lifestyle changes, individuals can make a difference which in turn will improve our nation’s overall health for the better.

Such data suggests that rural areas were actually better off in terms of medical care prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act than they are now. Before ACA implementation, the rural population was significantly more likely to be covered by Medicaid (21%) or other public insurance (4%) than the metropolitan population (16% and 3%, respectively). Therefore, while urban individuals on average had more healthcare benefits due to the nature of their insurance provider, since Medicaid made up some of the gap in employer-sponsored coverage in rural areas, the uninsured rate was similar in rural and urbans populations prior to the ACA (Figure 2).

Jim James, the CEO of _______, when faced with the reality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) becoming law and taking effect, began to implement new rules and guidelines for his institution. Although improvising a strategic plan the institution is expected to follow as supplies and resources would soon be in critical demand. As CEO, he understood what was expected of the health care system, focusing mainly on the organizational needs that will help with the expanding or growing population and meeting the increased demand for the future. Via industrialized existing programs and building clinics that will accommodate the expected significant impact of the newly insured. “Eliminating ED crowding will take the collective involvement of healthcare workers, business leaders, politicians, the press, and the public” (Derlet & Richards, 2008). After much consideration, and a comprehensive evaluation of the documents for the new Affordable Care Act Jim James thought about the upcoming opportunities using a persuasive approach to transform the hospital. Since he stated that his most pressing desire is to find ways to connect the recipients in a way that will model changes in existing programs. Admittedly, we have a medical, acute care, care system- a system that waits until we become ill before it kicks into action instead of a healthcare system focused on helping us stay healthy (Schimpff, 2012). The justification, seeing the possibilities that are crucial in dealing with changes in

Just like anything else that is first implemented out to people, there are also flaws. Not everything that first rolls out to the public is perfect. However, although this new health care may have some flaws in the beginning, some may say that there are a little more just minute flaws. Some may express that the new Affordable Care Act may be a reform that will hurt us rather than help us. “If there is any area of social policy in which Americans are likely to be aware that their system has flaws, it is in health care.” As if America it is not already the country that has the most expensive health care system , “Americans pay an average annual cost of $8,174 per person for their health care, over twice as high as the average Western

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;

This was to be accomplished through education and preventative care, the third goal (Strategic Goals, n.d.). By focusing on this strategy of promoting preventative care, this can help combat medical bills (Adepoju, Preston, & Gonzales, 2017). This cuts down on overall health care spending (Weiner, Marks, & Pauly, 2017). While there are serious health concerns within the upper and middle classes, there are significant issues going on in low-income populations, particularly inner-city and rural areas. The ACA was designed with initiatives to bridge these disparities. To combat these diseases, there is going to have to be better patient education initiatives. In these areas, there are few places to access quality care for these individuals. However, if we educated them on the importance of their health and controlling chronic illnesses such as hypertension, and promote prevention services, the health care system and the patients would both benefit. Preventative health

Health Care reform is not a new thing to people of United States. It has revised and altered on many occasions. The health care system is subjected to change due to the influences of several factors. Having an acceptable and affordable form of health care system is needed to insure the good health of the citizens. In today’s news, we hear many headlines along the line of “The new Affordable Care Act……” and to some of us we might not have any idea what this new act is. This act is known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act created by President Obama and his administration, which still is a work in progress and houses many different public opinions. As a result of passing this act, many

What is the Affordable Care Act and is it going to succeed or fail? The affordable care act is a law passed by the Obama Administration in 2010. This piece of legislation was passed to make health insurance affordable and accessible for all Americans. A lot of people refer to the affordable care act as Obamacare due to the fact that it was passed when President Obama was in office. The affordable care act was a major milestone for the United States in health care reform. It was the first time the United States passed a law that created a form of universal healthcare.

As the open enrollment period for health insurance under the Obamacare marketplace kicks off, many people remain unsure about the future of the Affordable Care Act and whether or not the law is still in effect. In fact, many Americans believe the law was repealed by the Trump administration and have no intention of pursuing healthcare on the open marketplace. According to CNBC.com, almost one in four Americans believe Donald Trump repealed or partially repealed the law. Some Americans believe Trump eliminated Obamacare and replaced it with a new law.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 23rd, 2010 by President Barack Obama. This radical health care law was a much-needed step in comprehensive health insurance reform. Three important features of the Affordable Care Act are 1. Improving quality and lowering health care costs 2. New consumer protections and 3. Increased access to healthcare. (Key Features. 2014). Under the umbrella of these three key features additional benefits include free preventive care, drug discounts for senior citizens, increased protection against health care fraud, small business tax credits, increased access to health care through the health insurance marketplace, consumer assistance, and non-discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.