The Affordable Care Act For Wellness Programs

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice.” Public Health Reports. Association of Schools of Public Health. n.d. Web. 14 July 2015. This paper claims that the PPACA will cut the number of uninsured Americans in half. The act attempts to provide nearly universal coverage and improve the quality and equity of said coverage through reforms to insurance standards and the marketplace. It also attempts to improve the quality of healthcare and the efficiency of its delivery by allowing consumers to edge the system into a more integrated state and measuring performance. It attempts to encourage preventive medicine by targeting chronic illnesses and funding community-based medicine. These changes will bring huge opportunities for improvement in the system, many of which are subtle and nuanced and will only be seen as the plan rolls into act over the next few

The Affordable Care Act has made many positive changes for uninsured and underinsured citizens. With the addition of a program called Health Insurance Marketplace, it is now possible for uninsured people in every state to purchase private insurance plans, those making under 400% or less of the Federal Poverty Level will be able to have tax credits making insurance more affordable (Lathrop & Hodnicki, 2014). Insurance companies are no longer allowed to cancel a policy or raise rates when a client gets sick. Insurance companies cannot refuse coverage to individuals with preexisting conditions such as cancer (“Quality Improvement,” 2015). Insurance companies now must cover preventive care and screenings allowing diseases like cancer to be caught early (“Quality Improvement,” 2015). Research has shown that through health screenings

As per Healthy People 2020 most Americans do not consume healthy diets and are not physically active at levels needed to maintain proper health. As a result of these behaviors the nation has experienced a dramatic increase in obesity in the U.S with 1 in 3 adults (34.0%) and 1 and 6 children and adolescents (16.2%) are obese. In addition to grave health consequences of being overweight and obese. It significantly raises medical cost and causes a great burden on the U.S medical care delivery system ("Healthy People 2020," 2014, p. 1).

Although the ACA have made progress, many still question whether or not this new law is working. The law is too complicated for people to understanding their coverage. "The ACA is not perfect", "but at least" the U.S. has taken one step toward reducing the disparities between rich and poor and providing health coverage to everyone (Gruber, 2011). In this paper I will discuss the benefit of the ACA and the affect it will have on provider reimbursement.

Some states have accepted the terms of the program including all of its expansion on the health care system, but some have been reluctant to implement the program. One of those reluctant states has been Florida, which is apparent by multiple court cases that has come since its inception (1). With Florida’s House of Representative consisting of a majority of Republicans, the conservatives of the state have fought the incorporation of the bill (2). With legislative bodies in opposition of the terms of the Affordable Care Act, it begs to question how policy makers have approached the issue of healthcare. My research question was in what ways the Affordable Health Care Act has affected healthcare in Florida, and how effective has it been in

The Affordable Healthcare Act makes healthcare and health insurance more affordable and more available to more Americans. It is able to do this by new consumer protections, rules and regulations on the healthcare industry. This is shown when creating a marketplace for subsidized insurance, and reforming and expanding public healthcare programs. These include Medicare and Medicaid. This act can also include measures to cut the growth in healthcare spending in the United States.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a United States federal statute that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. This particular law has come with much controversy. The law (along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010) is the principal health care reform legislation of the 111th United States Congress. PPACA reforms certain aspects of the private health insurance industry and public health insurance programs, increases insurance coverage of pre-existing conditions, expands access to insurance to over 30 million Americans, and increases projected national medical spending while lowering projected Medicare spending.

Basic changes were needed in the way Americans got health coverage. Trying to figure out what it was going to cost them starting in 2014, when major parts of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare”, went into effect was the challenge. The four main ways Americans experience healthcare once the Health Reform Law was fully in effect were coverage by an employer, the government, buy it themselves or have none. About half of Americans get insurance through their jobs. About one third through the government like Medicare and Medicaid. About one in ten purchase insurance themselves. And still another 30 million, just under one in ten, no coverage at all.

Through the years people in the Unites States have struggle with issues dealing with having health coverage. In March 2014 Obama care also known as Affordable Care Act was sign into law making it possible for the lower and middle class to be able to afford health insurance. The affordable care act was in congress from 2009 to 2010.With the act been pass it made it easier for the people to qualify and get help and pay so little with no extra cost. Even thought the insurance is not free it is now affordable for people so now people have a wider range of coverage options. With the affordable care act been pass they are hoping with the affordable screening and preventive services they can be more proactive with people’s healthcare and delay

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.

Michael Fraser is the executive vice president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. Fraser states that some of the plans offered through the Affordable Care Act have an annual deductible of $6,350. Patients must pay this deductible before insurance covers any portion of their medical fees. Once met, these plans only cover 60 percent of the medical costs, leaving the patient responsible for the remaining 40 percent.

Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) got enacted, many Americans did not receive the preventative care that they needed to stay healthy, prevent or delay the commencement of disease, and reduce health care cost. Generally because of the cost, Americans used preventative health care services at about half the recommended rate.

More than 45 million Americans are uninsured. Even those that do have health insurance often face financial and other barriers when getting healthcare. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) removes most of these financial barriers (Kocher, Emanuel, & DeParle, 2010). The ACA guarantees access to healthcare and creates new incentives to change clinical practice, but some might be surprised to learn that the financial price tag attached goes beyond healthcare costs and taxes which all Americans will pay for costs

Obesity rates in the United States are alarming, with more than one-third of U.S. adults and 17% of children qualifying as obese with a Body Mass Index greater than 30.0 (Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 2015). Even more frightening is the growth rate of this crippling health epidemic; between 1980 and 2014, obesity has doubled for adults and tripled for children (CDC, 2015). The physical consequences of rising obesity rates in our country include an abundance of physical ailments including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, arthritis, elevated cholesterol, and even some cancers. Additionally, obesity-related health care costs to our country are estimated at $147 billion annually, plus the costs of productivity lost at

Wellness in the workplace needs to be taken seriously by all employers, and employees. There has been evidence that making sure employees eat healthier leads to lower call out rates and more savings on health plans. In an article in Employee Benefits magazine it states that “Wellness management does not need to be complicated, or costly. A few simple steps could help to mitigate long-term problems, such as introducing early intervention activities that red flag cases identified via an absence reporting mechanism, the proactive management of musculo-skeletal conditions and stress, introducing a smoking cessation program or running regular health wellbeing days. “Workplace wellness as a concept has been used extensively in recent years by management in business and industry, health professionals, fitness experts, and others. This is a policy that should be implanted in all jobs. Wellness may not