Positive Effects Of The Affordable Care Act

Khalia Groves
Amelia Decker
Senior Project
18 February 2014
The Effects of the Affordable Care Act
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

The Affordable Care Act does create a large increase in the number of patients hospitals will receive, which should produce a larger income for the hospitals, but, with thirty million new patients (Ghosh, Chandak 68) who may be paying all of their medical bills at lower rates than other patients, the hospitals will not be able to afford the high quality items they normally have because of the decrease in income. The increase in patients will cause the prices of healthcare to increase, and the costs will not be met with the thousands of people paying only fractions of their bills. Since the healthcare professionals will still need certain supplies to efficiently care for their patients and will not be able to purchase the same items they originally purchased, the hospitals will need to find cheaper products that perform the same purposes as the more expensive items. This need for new products will provide manufacturers of plastic and metal medical products with more business opportunities (Wood, Bill 45). They will need to invent new and better ways to continue today’s healthcare provisions, while also helping to lower the cost of

Because the ACA is an expansion of Medicare, many of the problems facing Medicare, like Medicare fraud, will affect the Affordable Care Act, and many people will continue to apply for the Federal Assistance programs using false information. The government has already taken some steps toward preventing Medicare fraud through tactics such as unannounced home visits and verifying applicants’ eligibilities by using information from background checks, but these actions are not always enough to completely rid the country of Medicare fraud. According to the GAO (the United States Government Accountability Office), the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) can help to reduce Medicare fraud by strengthening the program’s enrollment standards and procedures, improving the pre- and post-payment claims reviews, and developing a vigorous process for addressing identified vulnerabilities (King, Kathleen 3). If the efforts are not made to decrease the amount of Medicare fraud that occurs, the nation and the healthcare system will continue to lose money. Also, those who commit the frauds will hinder the citizens who really need the help from receiving the healthcare they need because of the lost Federal funds. In order for the Affordable Care Act to perform its intended purpose of providing healthcare to those