Passed in 2006 and fully implemented by January 2008, the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law, or Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, put into place a near-universal health care program for its residents. Its purpose was to increase the number of those who were covered by health insurance and not necessarily to reduce the costs associated with care, which would be addressed two years later. Individuals who purchase their own coverage and those who are covered through their jobs at a small business with 50 or fewer employees were put into a single pool together, with the hope it would make coverage more affordable for individuals. Adults who are earning 100 to 150 percent of the federal poverty level and children whose parents earn up to 300 percent are eligible for free insurance through the reforms.
An individual mandate was put in place, whereby individuals were required to purchase health insurance or have to pay a penalty. Those for whom the penalty would be a burden were allowed to be exempted from this. There were subsidies for those who had a low income, an expansion of Medicaid, and requirements that employers provide coverage for employees or pay a penalty. There were various ways in which the state was able to fund the new health care program. One way was through taxes, such as an added $1 tax to every pack of cigarettes. Other revenue sources included individual and employer penalties from those without coverage
Reform for health care in Massachusetts came about mainly due to the fact that the state has great flexibility in how it spends its Medicaid funds. This flexibility allowed for payments to be made to hospitals that needed to be compensated for treating those without insurance. The state needed to ch...
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...searchers should have made the distinction between the two, as it could have provided more insight into how the Massachusetts law was affecting physicians’ care of patients.
One issue that was addressed in the reading yet not fully discussed was how Chapter 58 set forth a requirement that provided for a sizeable increase in the rates paid to physicians and hospitals who treat patients on Medicaid. I wish this point had been expanded on more in the article because many doctors refuse to see patients who are on Medicaid because they are paid so little for doing so. I thought this small, but also significant, aspect of the health care reform was crucial in helping to expand coverage as well as peoples’ choices for when it comes to choosing a doctor. Without this increase in pay, fewer and fewer doctors would continue to accept Medicaid patients in the future.
During the study of various reforms that were proposed and denied, both the GOP and Democrats attempted to find a balance that would guarantee the success of their proposals. Years of research, growing ideologies, political views and disregard for the country's constitution sparked an array of alternatives to solve the country's healthcare spending. The expenditure of US healthcare dollars was mostly due to hospital reimbursements, which constitute to 30% (Longest & Darr, 2008). During the research for alternatives, the gr...
The Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” was designed to assure that all Americans regardless of health status have access to affordable health insurance. The Affordable Car Act was signed into law March 23, 2010. The primary goal of this act was to decrease barriers for obtaining health care coverage and allow Americans to access needed health care services (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). After the legislation is fully implemented in 2014, all Americans will be required to have health insurance through their employer, a public program such as Medicaid and/or Medicare or by purchasing insurance through the health insurance marketplace exchange (Affordable Care Act Summary, n.d). I will identify three parts of The Affordable Care Act that I believe are important. First, I will talk about the requirement that insurance companies are no longer able to deny coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions. Secondly, I will explain why physician payments are being shifted to value over volume. Lastly, I will discuss Medicaid expansion and why some states are not expanding at all.
In 2010, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act in order to bring reform to the current healthcare system. The law was designed to provide healthcare coverage for people that did not have access to healthcare, improve the quality of the types of healthcare provided, and contain costs (HHS, 2014). Some of the features of the law are:
(W. Lease, personal communication, July 23, 2010), the “unknown” of the recent health care reform legislation is an external influence that is most relevant to our organization, stated by William Lease, senior vice president of clinical support services. Mr. Lease states, that health care reform legislation will impact our organization in many ways; especially after 2014. While more employees will have health insurance coverage and there will be more patients to treat; the need for controlling costs and improving efficiency is i...
Wise, N., & Taylor, F. (n.d.) Moving Forward With Reform: The Health Plan Pulse for 2012 and Beyond. Retrieved January 16, 2012 from
A very notable goal is to make healthcare affordable for all Americans and at the same, improving the quality and efficiency in which healthcare is conducted. Many look at this act and notice the key benefits that are provided for all Americans, and are interested to find other improvements that help everyday ...
Implemented (along with Medicare) as a part of the Social Security Amendments of 1965, Medicaid’s original purpose was to improve the health of the working poor who might otherwise go without medical care for themselves and their families. Medicaid also assisted low income seniors with cautionary provisions that paid for the costs of nursing facility care and other medical expenses such as premiums and copayments that were not covered through Medicare. Eligibility for Medicaid is usually based on the family’s or individual’s income and assets. When the ACA came into effect in 2010, it began to work with the states to develop a plan to better coordinate the two ...
Taxes in relation to the new healthcare reform is a prominent topic when one examines the supporting and opposing sides of the law. New taxes on businesses producing medical equipment and new Medicare taxes on investments have been established. For individuals and businesses choosing not to participate in purchasing health insurance there will be a penalty called a "shared responsibility" tax. The accrued money from these taxes is being used, among other things, to provide low-cost insurance plans on the marketplace and to create subsidies for those purchasing the plans. Through these subsidies, "any individual making up to $45,960 or a family of four with household income up to $94,200 is eligible" ("Obamacare tax guide") to qualify and get assistance at the end of each year to off-set the cost of the insurance even more...
There has been a lot of talk and debate lately over Health Care Reform, as people are trying to answer the question – Should a universally accessible health care system be implemented in the United States (US)? This ongoing highly debatable issue remains a hot topic among US citizens from all walks of life, from the very poor to the very wealthy. Health Care Reform affects everyone. The vast majority of the US population is very dissatisfied with the current state of health care. According to the ABC News and Washington Post cooperative poll, 57 percent of Americans aren’t satisfied with the overall system of health care (Langer, 2009). Consequently, the issue of the Health Care Reform was born, but before analyzing the actual aspects of this reform it will be wise to brush up on those major attitudes and concerns which occupy ordinary people and how they respond to the unfolding changes in the area of health care and social security.
Throughout the years, there have been many individuals and families who have not been able to afford healthcare. Some programs have helped to provide for those in need, but they have not provided to all needy citizens. In an effort to provide more people with the healthcare and insurance they truly need, the United States government has developed the Affordable Care Act. The act’s purpose is to expand Medicare, which was originally developed to provide for the elderly and the disabled, to those who are not disabled but are in times of financial hardship. The Affordable Care Act was originally developed to ensure healthcare to all individuals who could not afford it on their own. It would seem that the increase in the number of patients would benefit hospitals, but this act does the opposite of its intended outcome. There are more patients visiting the hospitals, but the act lowers the costs of their medical bills, which in turn decreases the hospitals’ incomes. This decreased source of income causes both the patients and the employees to find new solutions to the increased amount of issues that they now endure.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 is Obama’s plan for affordable healthcare insurance coverage and improved access to care. (Davis) This will be a long process due to the political and practical obstacles, but will have an effect on everyone. The ACA will start to provide coverage at different times in each state, which will depend on where they live and which party controls their statehouse. At the moment, Massachusetts provides coverage to nearly all residents. Court’s decision to make the ACA’s Medicaid expansion voluntary and Republican states opposition, means coverage expansion will be slower.
Peterson, Mark A. "It Was A Different Time: Obama And The Unique Opportunity For Health Care Reform." Journal Of Health Politics, Policy & Law 36.3 (2011): 429-436.Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Clearly, the Medicaid program is ripe for a major overhaul, a task that the federal government has thus far been unwilling to undertake. I chose this topic because I believe that the Medicaid program can be rescued and revitalized by leadership; otherwise, it is likely to be eroded. Medicaid is a government-sponsored program whose objective is to provide patients with health assistance upon meeting specific criteria. Medicaid is an insurance program that is available for disadvantaged persons, including the elderly, who cannot afford health benefits because of low incomes or other factors. This program is subsidized by government funds and in many instances, will cover the costs of basic medical care as well as specialized testing and supplies. What are the problems with Medicaid and what should be done about them? This paper will look at 6 articles about the economics of Medicaid and analyze what should be done about this problem.
Niles, N. J. (2014). Basics of the U.S. health care system (2nd ed.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://samples.jbpub.com/9781284043761/Chapter1.pdf
In March 2010, under the Obama administration, the United States enacted major health-care reform. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 expands coverage to the majority of uninsured Americans, through: (a) subsidies aimed at lower-income individuals and families to purchase coverage, (b) a mandate that most Americans obtain insurance or face a penalty,