preview

Medicare Access To Care

Better Essays
Open Document

Karikari-Martin (2010), states that the definitions of healthcare access are directly related to the concerns of the system. She continues saying that these definitions pertain most prominently to insurance, number of available providers and the efficiency of healthcare services (Karikari-Martin, 2010). Prior to enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010, the United States population was held hostage by an insurance industry that was poor secondary to insufficient government controls. The insurance companies made good insurance policies more difficult to attain with premiums that were constantly increasing, denials of insurance for those with pre-existing conditions or premiums so high they couldn’t afford it. …show more content…

According to Kurtz (2011) reduced Medicare payments can be made to providers or facilities as the government’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) sees fit (Kurtz, 2011). These reductions can be completed without congressional approval and can only be overturned by an act of congress. This practice could lead to many providers or facilities not being able to offer certain treatments due to the financial repercussions, in effect causing a rationing of care (Kurtz, 2011). This rationing will lead to decreased access to care as Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries are less and less likely to be able to find someone to treat them for such low payments. Further exacerbating this problem is the cuts to Medicare payments outline in the Act, where nearly $750 billion in cuts will be made by the end of 2015 (Turner, …show more content…

As stated previously, it will encourage nurses to pursue advanced degrees to make up for shortages in primary care and the pay-for-performance system will stress the overworked nurses. Nurses will also see more opportunities to work in new settings as there are needs in the new community-based programs prescribed in the policy. Nurses will also be inundated with much sicker patients, as this segment receives more benefits to seek care and the previously uninsured or underinsured can now pursue the care they need. The system has pluses and minuses, but it is undeniable that this healthcare policy could lead to many opportunities for all

Get Access