Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The Unintended Consequences of the Affordable Health Care Act
Strengths and weaknesses of the affordable care act as a reform to the existing u.s. healthcare system
Negative effects of Obamacare
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
President Obama has made healthcare reform a priority since the beginning of his presidency. Obama wants to implement a system similar to Medicare. As defined by Dictionary.com Medicare is: “a U.S. government program of hospitalization insurance and voluntary medical insurance for persons aged 65 and over and for certain disabled persons under 65”. This government based health insurance would still allow private insurance companies to stay in business. Another way Obama wants to change the health insurance companies is to expand coverage and improve the care given. What this means is people with cancer could possibly get health insurance in a case where no one else would cover them. This will also help to lower insurance plan costs. There are pros and cons to Obamas healthcare plan, but it might not be worth the cost or the problems to try and enact it. Under the government plan, businesses would be required to pay a fee for subsidizing insurance, or they would be required to supply mandatory healthcare for employees. If mandatory healthcare laws were required, it would raise the cost of hiring new employees and would possibly limit employers from hiring new prospects. Every American would be required to buy insurance based on the government’s idea of “acceptable insurance.” Even if people were happy with their current insurance, they could be forced to change policies if their current insurance policies do not meet the government’s “acceptable” standards. This could put Medicare in competition with private insurance companies. People would be able to choose taxpayer-subsidized plans or private insurance, but subsidies and cost-shifting would make the government plans ultimately have more appeal. Through government research st... ... middle of paper ... ...people will suffer the consequences of an inferior health system if the government enacts Obamas proposed healthcare system. Works Cited Coffin, Bill. "Bad Medicine." National Underwriter / Life & Health Financial Services 115.4 (2011): 16. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. Jeffrey B. English, M.D. "2011: Health Insurance Increases, Obamacare Responsible." Basil & Spice 14 Sept. 2010: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. "Medicare." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 08 Apr. 2012. . "Mitt Romney Says 'Flawed' Obamacare Should Be Rejected. (Cover Story)." Human Events 65.28 (2009): 1. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. Tanner, Michael. "OBAMACARE: Seven Bad Ideas For Health Care Reform." USA Today Magazine 138.2770 (2009): 14. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.
For decades, one of the many externalities that the government is trying to solve is the rising costs of healthcare. "Rising healthcare costs have hurt American competitiveness, forced too many families into bankruptcy to get their families the care they need, and driven up our nation's long-term deficit" ("Deficit-Reducing Healthcare Reform," 2014). The United States national government plays a major role in organizing, overseeing, financing, and more so than ever delivering health care (Jaffe, 2009). Though the government does not provide healthcare directly, it serves as a financing agent for publicly funded healthcare programs through the taxation of citizens. The total share of the national publicly funded health spending by various governments amounts to 4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product, GDP (Jaffe, 2009). By 2019, government spending on Medicare and Medicaid is expected to rise to 6 percent and 12 percent by 2050 (Jaffe, 2009). The percentages, documented from the Health Policy Brief (2009) by Jaffe, are from Medicare and Medicaid alone. The rapid rates are not due to increase of enrollment but growth in per capita costs for providing healthcare, especially via Medicare.
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.
It is terrifying to discover that you have terminal cancer. What is more terrifying is being left uninsured. This is what happened to one Californian. He lost his job due to recession cuts and tried to get onto his wife’s insurance coverage. However, she too lost her job and insurance. So now this man is left at home writing in pain because he cannot access pain killers. With his economic background, it is difficult to access federal coverage. There are problems like this occurring every day. I believe that we need to improve not only the amount of people covered by health insurance, but the quality as well. To illustrate this, I look to Kaiser Permanente, who I have both volunteered and been a patient with, for the model of healthcare reform.
Ghosh, C. (2013). Affordable Care Act: Strategies to Tame the Future. Physician Executive, 39(6), 68-70.
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.
Reese, Philip. Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 2002.
Most people aren't even sure what good ObamaCare is supposed to bring. President Obama developed this bill and signed it in as law to better protect his people. He knew that many American citizens do not have health care. This law is supposed to bring us to have better access to health care and to make it way more affordable. To be more readily accessible Obama contracted out the development of a website that anyone could access and applying would be quick and easy. However, the website, which was initially released...
With congress passing ObamaCare last year we are taking baby steps towards a health system overhaul we so desperately need. The skeptics, though, still argue against it, citing the costs as too much or that it’s un-american. Health care is a basic need for everyone, and as such should be right protected and provided for by the government. There are great, economic, moral, and social benefits to be reaped, and so it is important for our government to continue down this path its started and also important for Americans to provide our full support. There is much to overcome to completely reverse the direction of the health system, and I’m sure it will take many years for the results to pay off, but I’m glad we’ve at least provided the groundwork for future generations to build
Then came the question, should the employer be the one responsible for providing health insurance. While everyone on the panel could agree that our health care system in 2008 was broken, most seemed opposed to the alternative solution of universal healthcare. There is an incentive to the company to offer health insurance to a human being that may receive the opportunity to receive health insurance from another company. However, taking health insurance responsibility away from the employer and making it the government’s responsibility would increase availability and possibly eliminate freedom of
Johnson, A. (2013, 2013 1). 100 unintended consequences of obamacare. Retrieved April 11, 2014 from http://www.nationalreview.com/article/359861/100-unintended-consequences-obamacare-andrew-johnson
Tanner, Michael. "Obamacare to Come: Seven Bad Ideas for Health Care Reform." Cato Institution. N.p., 21 May 2009. Web. 14 Jan 2012. .
"Another day, another headache for president Obama." The president had staked his entire first term on this, and if it fell through his whole presidency could have gone downhill, fast. Everybody loved the idea of healthcare reform, but are they willing to pay the price that it will cost? When making a bill such as this, every option must be open for discussion and every idea must be on the table.
Smith, Karl. (October 27, 2007). Why is health care reform so difficult to achieve? Retrieved from http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/285/138/
In the United States, there are more than thousands of Americans who do not have the means to support themselves, hence they seek government benefits. Also, many people cannot afford proper insurance. For the Americans who are on public assistance, one of the biggest forms of assistance that the government offers is Medicare. Medicare is one of the many matters that are controversial ...
ObamaCare Summary: A Summary of Obama's Health Care Reform. n.d. Web. 18 03 2014. .