The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted in 2010 and was designed to insure millions of people, who did not have health insurance, reduce out-of-pocket expenses for families and reduce costs for small businesses. In essences, when enrollment opens in 2013, the ACA law will target the 42 million Americans that according to a Census Bureau Survey are uninsured (Klein). Indeed, Obama Care from a utilitarian point of view is a huge improvement in medical services to a larger proportion of the population, that prior to this law did not have insurance available to them, including improved availability of health care services and reigning in out of control insurance companies.
Controversially, the United States is one of the few countries that does not offer subsidized health care to all of its citizens; so therefore, a utilitarian would believe that the ACA will deliver the maximum benefit to a large portion of uninsured citizens (McClurkin). With this intention, some people will benefit through the expansion of Medicaid and others, mainly lower and middle class Americans will fall in between the upper cut off limits of Medicaid and the lower limits of affordability of premiums and high deductibles they cannot afford. In spite of the gains made by the Affordable Care Act, many believe that it is unethical in a country that touts its wealth to the rest of the world, have so many of its citizens not seek medical care because of high costs or are left struggling financially with
Most people do not know how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will affect them because the main groups of people that are affected are the uninsured population and vulnerable population. The number of vulnerable populations is increasing and if the establishment of policies and programs fail to improve the health of this population, then it will be extremely difficult to contain the cost of care in the United States (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). The goals of the ACA are to significantly
With the implementation of any new program there are bound to be unforeseen errors that causes the plan to be seen as failing when in reality it is just working through some issues. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is going through that process right now. A simple example to point to is the website that was built for the new healthcare system crashing when it was launched. The ACA is also exposing flaws in how healthcare is funded and also projected. With an estimated 32 million people gaining access to healthcare sharing of patient information is going to be vital, new technology will have to emerge to help with the surge of patient information. Along with the expansion of access to healthcare it is exposing the lack of qualified
As you know my situation is messy here in Texas. As a single, young male I do not qualify for Medicaid and with the ACA expansion more people are qualifying for Medicaid depending on their state. Sadly, that is not the case for me. I live in the state of Texas which is one of nearly 20 states yet to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and is home to the largest number of uninsured Americans of any state in the country. I do not meet the Medicaid requirements in Texas, available only to people with disabilities who have incomes below 75 percent of the federal poverty level; pregnant women with incomes less than 200 percent of poverty; and parents with incomes less than 19 percent of poverty. I will continue to be uninsured and as a freelance construction worker I should have coverage in case of a mishap at work. Therefore, I strongly support the idea of adding a public option to the U.S healthcare system for individuals like myself that do not qualify for Medicaid and do not have the financial means to buy health insurance on the private market.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a health reform law that was signed by President Barrack Obama on March 23, 2010. The full name of the law is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). One week later the President also signed a law called the Health Care Education and Reconciliation Act (HCERA), which was a supplement that made several changes the PPACA. What the country currently refers to as the ACA or "Obamacare" is both of these laws combined. (McDonough, 2012)
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a primary debate topic since it was enacted in 2010. The conservatives completely disagree with the Affordable Care Act and believe that “Democrats used it as an assertion of power than they used it to improve health care conditions” (“Republican Views on Health Care”, 2014). They believe that the act was a waste of taxpayer’s dollars and would inevitably ruin our health care system. In contrast, the liberals supported the ACA and “pride themselves on the fact that health care costs are growing at the slowest rate since 1960” (“Democratic View on Health Care”, 2014). The liberals believe that every American should have access to health care by making premiums affordable. However, in order to do so
Affordable Care Act (ACA), often known as Obamacare, was signed by President Obama in 2010. The goal of the Act is to increase the number of individuals with health insurance to the point where all Americans are insured by providing quality healthcare at an affordable price. Despite its good intent, the ACA is not as perfect as it may appear. In this paper, I will list the main features of the Act, its pros and cons, and how it affects you as an individual and discuss the King vs. Burwell lawsuit.
The Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) is commonly referred to as Obamacare. This pseudo name or nickname initially assigned to the program as a criticism of now former President Obama's efforts to stabilize healthcare at a national level, but it has since become the most widely accepted for the ACA. There are many cited reasons for opposition to the program, including the concern it presents the US government with an unnecessary control of public healthcare benefits.
Additionally, scarcity affects how people view health care in a general sense. Many critics of the Affordable Care Act maintain that it creates a new increase in overall healthcare expenditures (Barr, 2011). Yet while addressing this issue of access, it also raised new questions about costs in the short term (Barr, 2011). It is very difficult to convince consumers that a rise in price in the short term will be beneficial in the long term. The ACA tampered with the set health ‘square’ by increasing access for all Americans. It
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislated in 2010, has changed the United States health care industry. In addition to universal healthcare, one of the principles of the ACA is the ideal of accountable care. Specifically, adopting an Accountable Care organization (ACO) for Medicare beneficiaries under the fee for service program. An ACO seeks to hold providers and health organizations accountable for not only the quality of health care they provide to a population, but also keeping the cost of care down (1). This is accomplished by offering financial incentives to the healthcare providers that cooperate in, circumventing avoidable tests and procedures. The ACO model, seeks to remove present obstacles to refining the value of care, including a payment system that rewards the volume and intensity of provided services instead of quality and cost performance and commonly held assumptions that more medical care is equivalent to higher quality care (2) .A successful ACO model, will have developed quality clinical work and continual improvement while effectively managing costs, however this is contingent upon its ability to encourage hospitals, physicians, post-acute care facilities, and other providers involved to form connections that aid in coordination of care delivery throughout different settings and groups, and evaluate data on costs and outcomes(3). This establishes the ACO will need to have organizational aptitude to institute an administrative body to manage patient care,
It has been stated that one of the largest benefits to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for those that were already insured, is that they may purchase insurance through a marketplace allowing for continuous coverage, regardless of life experiences such as a change in job. Even those that are young, and may not appreciate health insurance because they have coverage through their parents, will need insurance once of age that isn’t dependent upon an employer as they are more likely to change jobs more often. Those that purchase health insurance through an employer offered group coverage could be made to feel as though they are captive to a job in order to continue to receive the insurance that they are accustomed to. Subsequently, the ACA has made health insurance more affordable for those that earn a lower income, making group plans more expensive for individuals, overall.
It is no surprise that the Affordable Care Act is a huge controversy in the U.S. presently, when it was first introduced there was a huge reaction on how this would never work. But what makes the Affordable Care Act work and not work when the people haven’t even given it a chance? Evidently the real problem is when people use and hear the term “social medicine.” This simple term shakes the nation and the minds of others go straight to a communism approach. In order to shed light and make the doubters aware that the ACA could work, we must look to other nations and examine their Health Care system and how it either benefits their country or not.
Substantial increases in health care costs has put significant strains on federal, state, and household budgets as well. Quality of health care varies widely, even after controlling for cost, patient preferences, and sources of payment (ATR, 2015). Many Americans lack health insurance coverage which also put a burden on the health care system itself, onto the consumers, and the tax payers as well.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is commonly known by the unofficial name of ObamaCare is an American healthcare transformation law of the land, expanding and improving access to care, while minimizing spending through government regulation and taxes. This health care insurance aims at protecting the patients and modifying health since it was signed into law by President Obama on 03/23/2010. By reforming healthcare infrastructure and introducing new initiatives mainly focused on excellence and provision of satisfactory health coverage to American citizens, ACA became United States leader in health care industry, elevating existing standards in other health care provider companies. Additionally, this healthcare law is extensive and
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), officially called The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and sometimes called Obamacare, is a US healthcare reform law that expands and improves access to care and curbs spending through regulations
Like many, my previous opinion regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was primarily based on political and philosophical differences with the legislation and its supporters/opponents. While I continue to have an ideological difference to many of the principles in the ACA, I do now realize that this legislation does have some theoretical positive aspects regarding a shift towards more managed care and the increasing encouragement of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). This shift has the potential to be helpful in terms of cost controls as it makes a substantial shift towards outcomes and away from fee per service care. ACOs also have great potential for helping to reduce overall costs in high risk, high cost patients (Powers & Chaguturu, 2016). This can be extremely beneficial as this high cost group is only a small percentage of our population but makes up the majority of our healthcare spending. It appears that the legislation at a minimum also helped to increased public awareness that we have a cost and quality problem, and I believe this recognition is helpful long term. However, I am still under the belief that the content of the legislation was built primarily for the benefit of the powerful lobbyists throughout the healthcare industry (i.e. insurance companies, AMA, etc.) and very little was included that would encourage the type of long term changes in the way we view healthcare and personal responsibility to be truly effective.