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Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act

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Everyone needs healthcare, because everyone gets sick. However, throughout the history of the United States of America the options for healthcare stability for its citizens has been very limited and lacking in coverage for many. Health Care Reform has been a major topic of discussion for the past few years, mainly due to the fact that many people were being denied coverage or unable to afford it, as well as a multitude of other reasons. Therefore a new system was proposed to improve the quality of service, keep the costs down, and maintain coverage for all Americans. This would mean a myriad of policy and logistical changes for companies, health systems, insurers, and individuals. This new system came in the form of the 2010 Patient …show more content…

Mainly, did the Affordable Care Act accomplish what it set out to do? If so, to what extent did it aid in health care reform, and how did it do so? By thoroughly understanding what led up to current changes in health care reform via the Affordable Care Act, what it has achieved, and what its setbacks are, we can get one step closer towards answering these questions.

Background

Problems in our healthcare system

Looking back at our former healthcare system, we see that it was far from flawless, some say it is due to the government, while others claim the health insurance and the healthcare system in general is to blame. So it 's no wonder that the healthcare system is constantly fluctuating. These fluctuations have let us to a system that was very flawed and in dire need of rectification. Furthermore, the health insurance market wasn’t readily accessible to the middle and lower class, due to high costs, bizarre prerequisites, and complicated terminology.

Annual family income

Most people agree that health insurance policies are too expensive; the average family cost for just the annual premiums in 2010 was over $14,000 for health insurance and increased annually.5 The US Census Bureau Annual Social and Economic Supplement for 2010 median house income was published to be $49,445.1 That’s over 28% of a family income just for health insurance premiums alone, not counting out of

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