On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), a piece of legislation that seeks to improve the American health care landscape in a variety of ways. The PPACA strives to increase access to affordable insurance coverage while working towards structural and other changes that will keep future healthcare costs under control. The common goal, and the one concept that is unanimously accepted is the aspiration to improve the quality of care for all citizens across the United States at the highest of standards.
There are many health-related provisions that will take effect over the next four years. These new provisions include prohibiting denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions, increasing Medicaid eligibility, creating incentives for businesses to offer health care benefits, creating health insurance exchanges, provide support for medical research, and subsidizing insurance premiums (Kaiser Foundation).
While the purpose of The Patient Protections and Affordable Care Act is to improve the costs and quality of healthcare for all U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, the PPACA will accomplish this foremost by extending insurance coverage to millions of Americans who are currently without health insurance, as stated in Title I: Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans (The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati). By having everyone participate in the same health insurance pool, we can ensure a health insurance market that is more affordable for everyone. One of the problems with our health insurance market has been that people have a hard time getting insurance coverage on their own and its very costly and often does not cover a lot. The health refo...
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Kelly, Mark; Koula, Donald; Westfall, Laura, (August 2010). Compensation and Benefits Insight. Interim Final Regulations Under PAACA: Pre-existing Condition Exclusions, Lifetime and Annual Limits, Rescissions, and Patient Protections. Retrieved on Feb. 1, 2011 from http://www.kslaw.com/library/publication/HH082310_Westfall.pdf
Sullivan, Daniel, Memorandum State of Alaska Department of Law. Constitutional Analysis of the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act and Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010. Retrieved on Feb. 1, 2011 from http://www.law.state.ak.us/pdf/opinions/opinions_2010/10002_ReconciliationAct.pdf
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
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is a statute endorsed by the U.S. Congress in 1996. It offers protections for many American workers which improves portability and continuity of health insurance coverage. The seven titles of the final law are Title I - Health care Access , Portability, Title II - Preventing Health Care Fraud and Abuse; administrative simplification; Medical Liability Reform; Title III – Tax-related Health Provisions; Title IV – Application and Enforcement of Group Health Plan Requirements; Title V – Revenue Offsets; Title XI – General Provisions, Peer Review, Administrative Simplification; Title XXVII – Assuring Portability, Availability and Renewability of Health Insurance Coverage. (Krager & Krager, 2008)
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.
Reese, Philip. Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 2002.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the status of health care reform implementation in the state of Ohio. Throughout the paper, I will discuss if the health care reform has been effective as well as name some of the positive and negative outcomes. Furthermore, I will discuss how the health care reform is impacting community health. Discussion on the effect of health care reform on the economics in Ohio will conclude this paper.
Wise, N., & Taylor, F. (n.d.) Moving Forward With Reform: The Health Plan Pulse for 2012 and Beyond. Retrieved January 16, 2012 from
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2011). Health care spending in the United States and
Niles, N. J. (2011). Basics of the U.S. health care system. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
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.
Health care reform is needed for four reasons. First, health care costs are rising. In 2011, the average cost for a family of four increased 7.3%, to $19,393. By 2030, payroll taxes will only cover 38% of Medicare costs. Second, health care reform is needed to improve the quality of care. Because of these reasons, President Barack Obama signed The Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, into law on March 23, 2010 and upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28, 2012. The goal is to give more Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance, and to reduce the growth in health care spending in the U.S. The Affordable Care Act contains ten titles that span over 1000 pages, but most of its key provisions are in first Title; The first title is about 140 pages long. The purpose of the law if to expand the affordability, quality, and availability of private and public health insurance through consumer protections, taxes, insurance exchanges, and other reforms.
“Medicare and the New Health Care Law — What it Means for You.” (2010). Medicare Publications, http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11467.pdf
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (hereinafter the "Affordable Care Act"), later amended by the Health Care Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, became law on March 23, 2010 and established a major expansion of access to health care for the citizens of the United States. Zelinsky, Edward A. "The Health-Related Tax Provisions of PPACA and HCERA: Contingent, Complex, Incremental and Lacking Cost Controls." New York University Review of Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, Forthcoming (Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), no. 301 (June 2010): 1-53.
The Quality, Affordable Health Care Insurance is for All Americans of the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act accomplished a fundamental transformation of health insurance in the United States through shared responsibility. Systemic insurance market reform eliminated discriminatory practices such as pre-existing condition exclusions. Achieving these reforms without increasing health insurance premiums will mean that all Americans must be part of the system and must have coverage. Tax credits for individuals and families will ensure that insurance is affordable for
ObamaCare Summary: A Summary of Obama's Health Care Reform. n.d. Web. 18 03 2014. .