The Affordable Care Act

The aim of the ACA is to provide affordable health care to all Americans, but it still leaves some issues unaddressed that will impact the access to health care. Covino (n.d.), “Though the intentions of the legislation are good, the Affordable Care Act does little to improve the actual health care delivery system” (para.1, page 2). According to the American Medical Association, we are facing an increasing Physician shortage. As of 2010 we faced a shortfall of 13,700 physicians, the estimate is that number will increase to 62,900 by 2015, 91,500 by 2020, and 130,600 by 2025 (Krupa, n.d.), with primary care taking the largest impact. Health Care coverage will be of no benefit if there are no doctors to treat the patients. An example of this occurred in 2002 when Thailand’s’ “30 Bhat Scheme” added (CNN n.d.) “14 million people to the country’s health care system, resulting in long waits and subpar service” (Your health is covered, but who is going to treat you?) Several factors contribute to the physician shortage. Many physicians are reaching the age of retirement, the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates nearly 15 million physicians will be eligible for Medicare in the coming years (CNN n.d.). The increasing cost of malpractice insurance also deters many from pursuing a career in medicine, and is forcing some doctors to retire. Also contributing to the physician shortage is a lack of spots in residency programs. “In 2011, more than 7,000 were left

Obama realizes that a strong nation needed the good health of all people. As a result, President Obama brings the Obamacare health insurance into the marketplaces to reduce the health care costs and to get access to health insurances easier as well. Under the Obamacare, there are no people to be denied coverage for

While the Obamacare act has both pros and cons, people are likely to support it or disagree to it on account of the perspective that they see things from. In spite of the fact that the act involves a series of benefits, it is difficult and almost impossible for one to ignore the fact that it is likely to cause a significant shortage of healthcare professionals and that it is also probable to cause an increase in drug prices.

Obama’s healthcare plan provides affordable health insurance for all US citizens but might affect your private insurance if you already have one. His plan is to help those who are in poverty and mainly those below poverty level. His program ensures that sick people will not be dropped from their insurance and there will be no discrimination whatsoever. This healthcare is aimed to improve the healthcare for those who cannot afford private healthcare or

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is a healthcare program created by president Obama’s administration. The goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make sure every United States citizen has health insurance. The Affordable Care Act provides “affordable” health insurance plans to citizens that do not have any and make about $15,000 a year. While the idea of providing health insurance to the millions of American’s that cannot afford it is great, everything comes at a cost. According to Emily Miller, Obamacare is causing people’s health insurance premiums to rise by around 1 to 9 percent (Miller 15-15). Not only are insurance premiums rising, but ever since the Supreme Court declared the Affordable Care Act constitutional approximately 20 tax hikes have been approved (Battersby). All the aforementioned reasons are helping pay for Obamacare. Although providing health insurance for people that cannot afford it is important, the Affordable Care Act should be revoked because it will hurt the economy.

The affordable care act was signed into law by president Obama in the year 2010. The aim of the act is to ensure Americans get access to quality health care and at the same time, reform the health care system in order to manage costs. The act has different sections that explicitly explain how this aim would be realized.

The Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress and then signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. The law was enacted in two parts: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010 and was amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act on March 30, 2010. The name “Affordable Care Act” is used to refer to the final, amended version of the law. The Act provided Americans with better health security by expanding coverage, held insurance companies accountable, lowered health care costs, guaranteed more choices and enhanced the care for all Americans (Medicaid.gov). Health insurance market places allowed shoppers to compare health plan that counted as minimum essential coverage.

In 2014, the average cost for an individual rose to $5,615. For those that have an income over $200,000 have to pay a higher tax. This tax is called the Robin Hood redistribution and was set to begin in 2014 with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. For the employers of companies, on average, they would have to pay around 30% for their employees to be covered with healthcare and insurance whereas in 2010, they only had to pay around 10%-20% of their healthcare and insurance. Currently, Americans have higher health insurance premiums, increased deductibles through their health plans, and the highest prescription drug costs our country has ever had. The costs in prescription drugs drastically rose between 2010 and 2014. Since 2010, the average cost for a patient to fill a prescription drug through commercial plans have risen by more than 25%. Drug companies put a higher cost on their drugs in 2014 as they saw the rise of those acquiring health insurance and healthcare. However, in states such as Kentucky and Arkansas, in 2014, people who skipped paying for their medication due to the cost being so high, dropped by 15% from roughly 43% to 28% due to Obamacare. Although, with Medicaid expanding, this puts more pressure on the middle-class population in the country as well as healthcare professionals as many physicians have to pay nearly half of what they earn to the

Under President Obama’s administration, more than “16.4 million uninsured people gained health coverage” (“The Affordable Care Act is Working”, 2014).

The Affordable Care Act completely changed the patient landscape of health care safety nets with its implementation in 2010. In particular, its expansion of Medicaid significantly shifted uninsured patient healthcare provider utilization, from emergency departments and free clinics, towards community health centers and federally qualified health centers. Yet major gaps in healthcare coverage persist due to states choosing not to expand Medicaid, exclusion of undocumented immigrants, and misunderstandings of the ACA. Health care safety net providers must understand their changing demographics and the needs of vulnerable uninsured patient populations. In doing so, healthcare safety net providers will be better informed in regards to necessary changes needed to thrive in the post-ACA era.

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.

This is forcing the doctors to no longer accept certain insurance companies such as medicaid because they aren’t being reimbursed for the services they’re providing to the consumers that are using medicaid. One doctor, Dr. Martha Boone in Atlanta, Georgia, said that she would have to see 20 patients an hour in order to make any reimbursement from medicaid. She said that medicaid paid none of their bills coming from her office for 18 months and when her office sent registered letters to Medicaid to see what the problem was they said it was a computer error and still didn’t reimburse her office (Heritage, 2010). Because most doctors don’t receive money from Medicaid, most of them don’t accept it. “Of the 93 internists affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Hospital, for example, only 37 accept Medicare, according to the hospital’s Web site.” (Connelly, 2009). This forces the Medicaid consumers to go to the emergency room when they need help since normal doctors rarely take their insurance. Dr. Lloyd Krieger says that the undoing of this healthcare bill is, “an urgent necessity.” because it is, “doing great damage even years before it’s individual mandates and other controls kick in.” (Krieger, 2011).

Health care in the United States is driven by a patchwork of services and financing. Americans access health care services in a variety of ways — from private physicians’ offices, to public hospitals, to safety-net providers. This diverse network of health care providers is supported by an equally diverse set of funding streams. The United States spends almost twice as much on health care as any other country, topping $2 trillion each year. (WHO.INT 2000) However, even with overall spending amounting to more than $7,400 per person, millions of individuals cannot access the health care services they need.(Foundation 2009) So when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a the Affordable Care Act or ACA) was passed in the summer

In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, concerns have been raised regarding the Republicans’ desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act, informally referred to as Obamacare. The ACA was originally enacted into law in 2010 and has been annually provisioned to expand its ability to not only improve the nation’s access to health care, but also to reform the health care delivery system. Through the ACA, private and public insurance has become more available and affordable, new health care delivery models have improved quality of care, and several workforce policies have made primary care a more desirable profession for medical students.

The Affordable Care Act set forth millions of dollars to address the problems and concerns that are associated with existing physicians shortages. The Affordable Care Act also has provisions that are aimed to improve the education, ongoing training as well as to help with the recruitment of nursing, physicians, doctors as well as other health care personnel. In addition, there are provisions in place that help to increase workforces’ cultural competency, enhance faculty training of healthcare professionals, and diversity. The provisions also play a vital role because of the fact they are put into place to examine innovative reimbursement and care delivery models that highlight primary care services value and offer in improvement in the patient care coordination.