Like Benjamin Franklin once said, “Words may show a man’s wit, but actions his meaning”, this is what America is expecting from president Obama. Most people believe that the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) violates the United States Constitution, and it should be eradicated. This law was implemented to help people acquire affordable health insurance; therefore, it is important to the people whom have preexisting conditions, and the American government is confronting medical legal and ethical issues like elective abortion. President Obama’s intention to provide affordable health insurance for all U.S. citizens is a noble act. However, there are mixed reactions in reference to this law in part of the citizens provided that the information from the media is bias. There are many speculations regarding the cost of this act; however, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services the Affordable Care Act has saved millions of dollars this year. Mr. Donald M. Berwick, M.D., Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says that, “In May alone, we have seen a seventy-six percent increase in the number of beneficiaries receiving this discount (four hundred seventy-eight thousand two hundred seventy-two individuals through the end of May compared to two hundred seventy thousand nine hundred through the end of April). In addition, the total savings these beneficiaries received grew over fifty-six percent in one month, for a total average savings of Five hundred forty-five thousand dollars per beneficiary” (June 2011, Para. 3). This means that the in such short time this act is helping decrease medical costs. In the long run this law passed by President Obama will accomplish health insurance and medical...
... middle of paper ...
...e Hyde amendment principles. Today’s News & Views. Para. 7. Retrieved from http://www.nrlc.org/news_and_views/March11/nv030211.html
Sebeilius, K. (July 11, 2011). Looking Ahead to 2014: Competitive Affordable Insurance Marketplaces. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Para. 4. Retrieved from http://www.healthcare.gov/news/blog/exchanges07112011.html
Sorian, Richard (June 17, 2011). Keeping The System Clean: Fighting Medicare Fraud. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Para. 1 & 2. Retrieved from http://www.healthcare.gov/news/blog/stopmedicarefraud06172011.html
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (July 11, 2011). HHS and states move to establish Affordable Insurance Exchanges, give Americans the same insurance choices as members of Congress. HHS Press Release. Para. 8. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/07/20110711a.html
“Americans without insurance coverage will be able to choose the insurance coverage that works best for them in a new open, competitive insurance market – the same insurance market that every member of Congress will be required to use for their insurance. The insurance exchange will pool buying power and give Americans new affordable choices of private insurance plans that have to compete for their business based on cost and quality. Small business owners will not only be able to choose insurance coverage through this exchange, but will receive a new tax credit to help offset the cost of covering their employees.
With implementation of healthcare reform, steps are being taken over the next several years to insure all American’s. Starting in 2014, a new resource called an Exchange will be available. According to HHS, a healthcare exchange will “provide a transparent and competitive insurance marketplace where individuals and small businesses can buy affordable and qualified health benefit plans”...
Holahan, J. (2012). The cost and coverage implications of the ACA Medicaid expansion: National and state-by-state analysis. Retrieved from urban.org
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.
Senator Scott Brown a Republican from Massachusetts stated that: “States shouldn 't be forced by the federal government to adopt a one-size-fits-all health care plan; each state 's health care needs are different”. Senator Brown has a very good point, the ACA healthcare program does not fit the differentiating needs of the different states, and each state has different factors that go into the roles of their healthcare programs. Thomas Miller, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute also has opposing viewpoints toward the relationship between the Affordable Care Act and state healthcare programs. “Miller says the ACA will undermine the development of free-market dynamics in the health insurance field and force states to accede to federal dictates. At first, he says, states may be able to shape their own insurance exchanges through which people purchase health coverage. But that is simply because Washington made certain “concessions” to the states to induce them to back the law, he says. Once the new health regime is deeply rooted, he predicts, “the long-term dynamics will very much have Washington in control rather than having open markets.”” (Clemmitt, Assessing the New Health Care
Ghosh, C. (2013). Affordable Care Act: Strategies to Tame the Future. Physician Executive, 39(6), 68-70.
Davidson, Stephen M. Still Broken: Understanding the U.S. Health Care System. Stanford, CA: Stanford Business, 2010. Print.
Reese, Philip. Public Agenda Foundation. The Health Care Crisis: Containing Costs, Expanding Coverage. New York: McGraw, 2002.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed by President Barack Obama is a significant change of the American healthcare system since insurance plans programs like Medicare and Medicaid (“Introduction to”). As a result, “It is also one of the most hotly contested, publicly maligned, and politically divisive pieces of legislation the country has ever seen” (“Introduction to”). The Affordable Care Act should be changed because it grants the government too much control over the citizen’s healthcare or the lack of individual freedom to choose affordable health insurance.
The people of the United States have been suffering from a number of serious issues, all related to health care: millions go uninsured every year, health care is too expensive, and the quality of care is poor, especially for the price. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obama Care, began addressing these issues. The ACA is a United States federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law was enacted with the goals of increasing the quality and affordability of health insurance, lowering the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage, and reducing the costs of healthcare for individuals and the government. Although several of the act’s promises have not come into effect yet, it has managed to extend healthcare to the repetitively uninsured. While many of the accomplishments that the act has already made, and aims to make, are no small feat, there are still issues within the policies and procedures. For example, Obama Care boasts that it is a universal healthcare system. However, it is unlike any other in the world, and is technically forced on citizens in a variety of ways. It has been debated, that for that reason, the new law may come into violation of several human rights. Another significant issue with the ACA regards a cap on citizen’s out-of-pocket expenses, and the fact that the administration decided to delay making a definitive decision, potentially costing many American’s unprecedented medical fees.
Out of all the industrialized countries in the world, the United States is the only one that doesn’t have a universal health care plan (Yamin 1157). The current health care system in the United States relies on employer-sponsored insurance programs or purchase of individual insurance plans. Employer-sponsored coverage has dropped from roughly 80 percent in 1982 to a little over 60 percent in 2006 (Kinney 809). The government does provide...
Health reform at a glance: the health insurance exchange. (2009). Retrieved November 5, 2009, from waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/exchange.pdf
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the real title of the bill, enacted in 2009. It is far better known as The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. This bill represents the biggest revolution and improvement, or at least an attempt towards it, in the health care of the United States of America since the passage of Medicaid and Medicare in 1965. The main purpose of the ACA implementation was, as the bill states in its title, to make: ˝ Quality, Affordable Health Care for All Americans˝ possible. Before the ObamaCare, there were millions of American who were uninsured, or had poor quality insurance plan. On the other hand those who did have health care coverage, even the decent one, we left on their own when insurance companies abused their trust and deprived them of their rights. That was the reason why the government and the President Obama, hoped to increase the quality and make the health insurance more affordable. The idea was to lower uninsured rate by firstly increasing the extent of public and also private coverage, and then secondly, to minimise the costs of health care for both individuals and the government.
The Consequences Of Obamacare [Electronic Resource] : Impact On Medicaid And State Health Care Reform : Hearing Before The Committee On Energy And Commerce, House Of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session, March 1, 2011. n.p.: Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 2011., 2011. Louisiana State University. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
Mehmud, S. M. & Neiman, D. (2013). The affordable care act in brief: A look into January 2014 changes. Benefits Quaterly, 29(2), p34-41.