The Reform And Governmental Statistics On The United States

In 2010, the United States created The Affordable Care Act (ACA). The objective was to share the responsibility of costs between the government, individuals, and employers to provide affordable access to quality health insurance. “However, health coverage remains fragmented, with numerous private and public sources, as well as wide gaps in insured rates across the U.S. population.” (“United States: International Health Care System Profiles,” n.d.). Each individual state within the US, generally has control over private insurance.

“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

Texas, which currently has a large uninsured population and limited Medicaid eligibility, forfeits billions of dollars from the federal government every year by not expanding its Medicaid program as implemented in the Affordable Care Act. In contrast, Medicaid expansion could benefit the state exponentially and give its citizens the fullest potential of what this country offers. A substantial amount of federal funding that could increase uninsured coverage, improve healthcare costs, and provide economic stimulus is left on the table. Additionally, the nation benefits when each state participates, contributing to the success of the healthcare reform.

Rick Perry told Fox news on July 8th, 2012 that Texas wouldn’t be a part of “socializing healthcare,’’ and the only solution to fixing Texas healthcare is to have the Federal Government block grant the state funding to fix the healthcare options instead of giving a ‘’one size fits all, cookie cutter’’ solution (News, 2012). Even state Medicaid Chief, Billy Millwee supports Perry. In an interview to The Texas Tribune he calls Medicaid,

Hence, these people will continue suffering when sick and will jeopardize their health that’s lead to death. It is ridiculous, that some of the state’s governors have to opt out because the federal government covers the majority of the health care cost; it’s the taxes that the citizens are paying, regardless of if the state opted in or out the plan. If a governor opts out, it means that he or she will be walking away from billion or millions of money that could have helped the citizens, thus leaving some the citizens without health care. Citizens with incomes that are above the federal poverty line will be eligible for the tax credits from the government for them to get insured, but the people who are below the poverty line would be the state’s responsibility.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also referred to as ObamaCare, is a complex U.S healthcare reform that attempts to expand and improve access to healthcare and decrease spending through taxes and regulations. The main goal of the ACA is to provide more Americans with affordable health insurance. States vary in when and how they implemented the ACA in order to meet the needs of their state in hope to decrease the uninsured population. Every state had the option decide whether to offer healthcare through a state-based or a federal marketplace. Some states sued the federal government questioning whether they even had to right to impose this act. New Mexico and Pennsylvania are just two of the states that have had to figure out a way implement the Affordable Care Act. Each one had to take into consideration several factors including their state population, the demographics of that population, how many uninsured people there were, and the economy of their state. They both had the public plans such as Medicaid, Medicare and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) options as well as new federal subsidies that would now be offered depending upon income. Since there is no “one size fits all” health plan each state was challenged to make the best decisions using the tools available to them. This information was then used to formulate a plan that would give the most people access to affordable healthcare in each of these

The state of Texas has pulled its Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, leaving poor residents with few options for affordable healthcare. Medicaid, a program focused on helping low-income families and individuals receive healthcare, has always been jointly operated by the state and the federal government. But to who this program would be eligible for is entirely up to the state. More conservative states, like Texas for example, strictly reserve Medicaid for only the most severe cases of poverty-stricken families, leaving a large portion of low-income residents uninsured. The Affordable Care Act, a federally mandated reform of Medicaid introduced by President Obama, would provide healthcare for many American citizens in need. Despite being

One of the main reasons why Obamacare is not working is because, insurance companies are pulling out of the Obamacare marketplace or going out of business, this is due to the government not reimbursing the companies as they promised. The article, “Beneficiaries Reflect Health Law Strengths and Faults” published on October 20, 2016 argues that the “Obama Administration, thwarted by Republican opponents in Congress, has paid out

Texas has the largest uninsured population with an estimated 6.2 million uninsured citizens within its stateliness, approximately a quarter of the statewide population (Rapoport, 2012). In 2012, then governor, Rick Perry decided that Texas would not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This decision led to much debate over whether or not Perry made the right decision to leave upwards of a million Texans, who did not receive insurance subsidies and did not qualify for Medicaid, uninsured. These Texans fell under what many politicians refer to as the “coverage gap.” Texas decided not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act because of the effects it would have on hospitals, financial reasons, and increased number of

In Ohio, the financial aspects of ACA implementation are numerous. A large amount of Ohioans received an average tax credit of $244 per month while about half that number, 41% of enrollees, were able to secure insurance for $100 or less (United States of America, 2015). One million dollars was received in research grants for Marketplace innovation and improvement and funds that were originally spent on salaries and marketing were diverted to care improvement through the 80/20 rule (United States of America, 2015). Large amounts of funds were made available to combat premium increases which have saved approximately one billion dollars nationally (United States of America, 2015). Over $217 million has been made available for primary care services in community health settings with an additional $33 million ear marked for prevention and public health needs (United States of America, 2015). I believe this feature will have the greatest impact on health in Ohio. Increased funding for community projects naturally leads to increased preventative measures and decreased health care costs overall. Close to $235 million was saved in prescription costs by those enrolled in Ohio Medicare through the closure of the medication coverage gap (United States of America, 2015). This results in an average saving of $980 per

Typically, when the United States mandates a new federal policy, it is up to the implementation of states to enforce; The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is no exception. While the ACA has sparked a particularly concerted effort of objection amongst states (Leonard, 2012), it can be extremely beneficial to see the outcome of this implementation in the political context of each state and learn from their differences. In New Mexico, the main objective of the ACA was achieved; when reviewed in 2015, 52,358 individuals had either opted for or were re-enrolled in health insurance through the Marketplace who would have otherwise been uninsured (Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, 2015). As the future of the policy will rapidly change in the coming months, it is imperative that a concerted effort be made to look at what worked in the past few years so that the next few may move forward rather than rehash a previously treaded path.

Ironically, Texas has the highest number of uninsured citizens in the nation, 6.2 million to be exact. The majority of these citizens are children. According to Goodwyn (2013), “by Texas refusing to participate in the Medicaid expansion, which is part of the ACA, the state will leave on the table an estimated 100 billion dollars over the next decade. It is sad to know many citizens in this state will be denied health care by those who already have the best insurance and will never have to worry about being uninsured. In addition, the Texas politicians fail to recognize the need for health care for neither its most vulnerable citizens nor the burden on the Emergency room as well as the rise in healthcare premiums for citizens who maintain health insurance. Landers (2013) reports, “whether they have a good income or a lower one, Texas lag behind much of the nation in access to and quality health care.” States who fail to expand Medicaid will see their funds distributed to states on board with expanding Medicaid.

In February 2017, the news was dominated by stories and video of town hall meetings with constituents telling their representatives stories of how the ACA had benefitted them or their loved ones in one way or another (Colliver, 2017). There is no doubt that the law has helped thousands, maybe even millions of people across the country. There have also been stories of individuals who have health insurance, but are unable to use it because of high deductibles, which effectively render the insurance policies these people hold emergency only plans (Luhby, 2016). This is most certainly an unintended consequence of a law that was written with good intentions, but which needs to be modified to work with the real life situations the citizens of this country are faced with.

“We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice, and provides coverage that every American can count on. And we will do it this year.” The preceding is a powerful statement from the newly elected President Barak Obama. One of the main aspects of both political campaigns was health care reform. The above quote shows passion and encouragement, but the quotes about health care do not end there. Georgian republican gubernatorial candidate and health care policy maker John Oxendine expressed: “Their proposal would virtually devastate the private healthcare sector in this country along with competition and patient choice, by replacing it with bureaucratic planning and government control. The result of this plan and its one trillion

“A week prior to July 3rd of 2012 “the Supreme Court decided in favor of the universal healthcare statute that was passed under the Obama administration and upheld the individual mandate. But surprisingly no one of the conservatives decried the decision as contributing to the downfall of society, evidence that President Obama is a socialist, and generally anti-American. But conservatives