Introduction This paper will take into account the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Law and how all three branches of government are involved with the creation and analyze issues associated with the ACA. Subsequently the paper will describe the role of public opinion and lobbying groups. Thirdly this paper will evaluate the concepts of equity, efficiency, and effectiveness showcasing their role in the law and its passage. This paper will take into consideration the anticipated effects on cost, quality, and access, including discussing the balance of markets and the government. In closing this paper will highlight the anticipated effects on Medicare and aging as well as Medicaid and the poor. The ACA was signed on March 23, 2010 with the intention to offer all U.S. Citizens and residents a qualifying health care coverage plan. The law’s focus is to expand coverage, control health care cost, and improve health care delivery system. Three Branches of the Government Executive Branch: The President carries out federal laws and recommends new ones, as well as directs the national defense and foreign policy, and performs ceremonial duties. The President powers includes directing government, commanding the Armed Forces, dealing with international leaders, acting as chief law enforcement officer, and vetoing laws. Legislative Branch: Headed by Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The main focus of these two bodies is to make the laws. The House of Representative’s powers include passing laws, originating spending bills (House), impeaching officials (Senate), and approving treaties (Senate). Judicial Branch: Headed by the Supreme Court and their main focus is to interpret the Constitution, reviewing laws, and decidi... ... middle of paper ... ...idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid =1e9c797a-730b-41c7-9b9f- beecbf7644b3%40sessionmgr111&vid=5&hid=116The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), What’s Medicare? Retrieved: August 2013, https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11306.pdf Courts,” in Health Politics and Policy, 4th edition (James A. Morone, Theodor J. Litman, and Leonard S. Robins, eds., Delmar Cengage Learning, 2008 p. 128) The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (March 26, 2010), Summary of New Health Reform Law, http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/8061-021.pdfC(P.L.111-148) The White House (n.d), The Legislative Branch, http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/legislative-branch World Health Organization. Health Systems: Improving Performance. The World Health Report Retrieved: 2000. From: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs323/en/index.html. 11/22/2012.
One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.
Healthcare has been a topic of discussion with the majority of the country. Issues with insurance coverage, rising costs, limited options to gain coverage, and the quality of healthcare have become concerns for law makers, healthcare providers and the general public. Some of those concerns were alleviated with the passing of the Affordable Care Act, but new concerns have developed with problems that have occurred in the implementation of the new law. The main concerns of the country are if the Affordable Care Act will be able to overcome the issues that plagued the old healthcare system, the cost of the program, and how will the new law affect the quality of the health delivery system.
Longest Jr., B.B (2009) Health Policy making in the United States (5th Edition). Chicago, IL: HAP/AUPHA.
The United States (U.S.) has a health care system that is much different than any other health care system in the world (Nies & McEwen, 2015). It is frequently recognized as one with most recent technological inventions, but at the same time is often criticized for being overly expensive (Nies & McEwen, 2015). In 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.) This plan was implemented in an attempt to make preventative care more affordable and accessible for all uninsured Americans (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.). Under the law, the new Patient’s Bill of Rights gives consumers the power to be in charge of their health care choices. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.).
Since the initiation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Americans have been put back in charge of their individual health care. Under this new law, a health insurance marketplace provides a haven for individuals without insurance to gain coverage. Just this year, citizens found out early whether they qualified for Medicare or the CHIP formally known as the Children’s Health Insurance Program. So much is to be learned about the Affordable Care act and this paper provides the roles of the different governmental branches, along with other important factors associated with this law.
On March 23, 2010, President Barrack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into legislation. The bill was created to provide affordable and effective health care to all Americans. It has since provided tens of millions of uninsured Americans with affordable healthcare (“ObamaCare: Pros and Cons of ObamaCare”). While doing so, an estimated 31 million still remain uncovered as of 2016 (“Not ‘Everybody’ Is Covered Under ACA”). To this day, the health care plan has remained widely criticized and controversial. Many believe the Affordable Care Act has not done its duty and is unconstitutional to force healthcare upon Americans. Some of the people who share these views believe it isn’t the government’s job to provide welfare. They believe healthcare
Berman, M. L. (2011). From Health Care Reform to Public Health Reform. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 39(3), 328-339. doi:10.1111/j.1748-720X.2011.00603.x
In America the affordability and equality of access to healthcare is a crucial topic of debate when it comes to one's understanding of healthcare reform. The ability for a sick individual to attain proper treatment for their ailments has reached the upper echelons of government. Public outcry for a change in the handling of health insurance laws has aided in the establishment of the Affordable Healthcare Law (AHCL) to ensure the people of America will be able to get the medical attention they deserve as well as making that attention more affordable, as the name states. Since its creation, the AHCL has undergone scrutiny towards its effects on the government and its people; nevertheless, the new law must not be dismantled due to its function as a cornerstone of equal-opportunity healthcare, and if such a removal is allowed, there will be possibly detrimental effects on taxes, the economy, and poor people.
The US government is struggling to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. The ACA has four challenges, first, inequality, reducing health discrepancies among racial and ethnic minorities is a major focus of the law. Second, and perhaps the greatest challenge in the US health care system is inefficiency. The tremendous costs of the US system have worsened gaps for racial and ethnic minorities by making it difficult to afford health insurance. Even the ones who were able to afford it were only able to afford lowered end treatment. Persistent expansion of health insurance for minorities will require significant improvements in the efficiency of healthcare. Third, the US system is heavily relied on reliance on expensive, high tech care. For example, minorities without health insurance have commonly not had access to preventive services because of the expensive equipment that is used. Fourth, continuing public puzzlement is a problem for the implementation and political upkeep for the law. The only thing most people know about the act is the individual mandate that everyone has to have “minimum essential” health coverage. There was a poll released by Kaiser Health Tracking that affirmed this how uneducated people are on the ACA. The poll was released in April 2013, which revealed that 4 in 10 Americans are still unaware that the ACA is the law and is being implemented. Those who are aware of the law only half of them understand how the law will affect their family. For the people who are uninsured there is even a greater lack of understanding, 58% among diverse minorit...
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, (March 2010). Focus on Health Reform, Summary of New Health Reform Law, Retrieved on Feb. 1, 2011, from http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8061.pdf
Saldin, Robert. "Wonder Drug Or Bad Medicine? A Short History Of Healthcare Reform And A Prognosis For Its Future." Juniata Voices 11.(2011): 83-91. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 May 2014.
After the inception of ACA that is Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010 various policies and regulations has been proposed which has more controversy (www.healthcapital.com, 2013). Affordable health act has impact on the stakeholders in different manner. The main concern in the medical field is the input cost which is increasing continuously. This is the biggest challenge for the US government as the increasing cost makes it impossible for the government to allocate appropriate resources in managing the requirements of the ACA public policy. There are more initiatives taken by the US government in implementing the ACA in an appropriate manner by continuously improving the quality of health care at affordable lower costs (www.healthcapital.com, 2013). According to Kaiser Health Tracking Poll conducted in March 2013, about 40% of the public are against the ACA and 37% are supporting the ACA which satisfies the legislative requirements (www.healthcapital.com, 2013). Key issue in health care industry is the quality of doctors and the number of doctors available, this ACA mainly aims to address the issue of all citizens especially poor. The constituency of the act makes the US government to think about the Supreme Court Judgement about emphasising all citizens should have health insurance (NYTimes, 2014).
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2011). Health care spending in the United States and
Obama Affordable Care Act presents a reasonable approach to effectively address this challange by building on the current system. This new policy will implement multiple strategies that include strengthening empolyer-based coverage (pay or play), expanding and funding public coverage, and creating a new national purchasing pool offering a range of health plan options for individuals and businesses. Although expanding pulic coverage sounds a great way to cover a huge number of people, it will impose two problems. The first one will be obtaining enough funding resorces, and second will be providing equal and fair health care services to all Americans. Otherwise this will be a different form of socializing medicine where beneficiaries will have very lousy insurane that is not accepted by many healthcare providers and will leave people on a long waiting lists to get any medical service.