Is Affordable Care Act Really Affordable?
Qionghui Wu
Health Economics and Policy 3233
Professor Leslie Doss
University of Texas at San Antonio
Abstract This paper explores three fundamental economic reasons to promote the Affordable Care Act. These reasons are found in several articles that focus the most among other reasons. These reasons are: getting most uninsured people to be covered in health care insurances, lowering the health insurance costs for both insured and uninsured, and to focus more on prevention than treatments. After introducing these three reasons, there are also some disadvantages listed in this paper to compare Affordable Care Act’s social benefits and its costs. In this paper, the readers are
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Most of the uninsured go without health coverage because they can’t afford it, and they would purchase it if they could” (APHA, 2012). Because of the lack of medical doctors, the fees for medical treatments and preventions are extremely high, there are many people could not afford it. According to Jonathan Gruber, in the book Health Care Reform: What it is, Why it’s Necessary, How it Works, he mentioned that people who work in large companies will have their insurance covered, but for individuals who are working for small companies but earns more than those who can get Medicaid, will have to buy their own insurance. Usually these insurances are not cheap, and once they use the insurance once, the insurance companies will raise their insurance price or find ways to kick them out of the insurance coverage. In this case, ACA will “reduce premium costs for millions of working families and small businesses by providing hundreds of billions of dollars in tax relief …also reduces what families will have to pay for health care by capping out-of-pocket expenses and requiring preventive care to be fully covered without any out-of-pocket expense…Americans without insurance coverage will be able to choose the insurance coverage that works best for them in a new open, competitive insurance market… keeps insurance companies honest by setting clear rules that rein in the worst insurance
The U.S. healthcare system is remarkably complex, and even healthcare workers struggle to understand it. The U.S. population gets health coverage by government programs, employers, and private insurance. Notably, because of the complexity and fragmentation of the health care system, there is a percentage of the population that remains uninsured. According to CNN Money, the uninsured rate in the U.S. dropped from 18.2% in 2010 to 10.3% in 2016, this drop was under Affordable Care Act(ACA) (). The goal of the ACA was not to give health coverage to all the uninsured population, rather it was to try to decrease the percentage of the population that remained uninsured(). There is a lot of inequality in the distribution of health among the U.S. population
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a topic of dispute since its introduction and continues to be discussed by politicians in the U.S. and throughout the world even after its passage. The Act has many opponents and is the cause of much controversy nationwide, primarily because it introduces higher healthcare costs for the richest citizens. Nevertheless, the ACA is an important stage in the American healthcare development process as it not only allows more people to receive healthcare services, but will also reduce the deficit. However, not everyone agrees. The policy is controversial in terms of cost vs. benefits, but the benefits ultimately outweigh the costs.
Large populations of Americans are uninsured mainly because of the high cost of insurance. Majority of the uninsured are the low-income working families’. The adults represent a higher percentage of the uninsured than children. Before the law, you could be denied coverage or treatment because you had been sick in the past, be dropped mid-treatment for making a simple mistake on your application, hence, the Affordable Care Act was implemented into law on March 23, 2010 by President Barrack Obama to make sure that every American irrespective of their status will be insured and have full access to proper health care benefits, rights and protection(1). To understand the
The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is a healthcare program created by president Obama’s administration. The goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make sure every United States citizen has health insurance. The Affordable Care Act provides “affordable” health insurance plans to citizens that do not have any and make about $15,000 a year. While the idea of providing health insurance to the millions of American’s that cannot afford it is great, everything comes at a cost. According to Emily Miller, Obamacare is causing people’s health insurance premiums to rise by around 1 to 9 percent (Miller 15-15). Not only are insurance premiums rising, but ever since the Supreme Court declared the Affordable Care Act constitutional approximately 20 tax hikes have been approved (Battersby). All the aforementioned reasons are helping pay for Obamacare. Although providing health insurance for people that cannot afford it is important, the Affordable Care Act should be revoked because it will hurt the economy.
On March 23, 2010, the Affordable care act also known as “obamacare” was signed into law by president Barrack Obama. Only gay marriage legislations and gun laws have elicited more public response than the affordable care act. Both opponents and proponents have presented constructive arguments of the perceived failures and strengths of the act. Owing to the intense debate surrounding the act, very few people understand that the act only came into full implementation in 2014. The raving reviews and critiques of the debate have bordered on myths and perception influenced by political alignments. Pertinent questions have been asked about the affordable care act. There have been conflicting accounts on the role of the affordable care act in regulating the health insurance industry. Concerns have been raised on why patients are paying higher out of pocket expenses yet the affordable care act was meant to introduce checks and balance in healthcare provisions. This paper therefore seeks to deeply explore the affordable care act by researching on these questions. The paper will also demonstrate perspectives on the good and the bad that comes from the affordable care act. Lastly, the paper will analyze healthcare situation in New York City with statistics showing that healthcare services are becoming more expensive in the city even after the full implementation of the affordable care act.
The Affordable Care Act that is commonly known as the Obamacare can be explained as healthcare declaration that was enacted by the Federal government on 23rd March 2010. The main objective of the Act was to reform the US health systems by offering and bettering access to quality and affordable health care, health insurance, and by offering American citizens with more rights and safeguards by minimizing healthcare expenses for both the government as well as the American residents. Moreover, it can also be pointed out that the Act also aimed extending private and public insurance coverage while also regulating the insurance sector. Nevertheless, since enactment of the Act, the Act has been heaving criticized by some quarters to the extent that some political leaders in the USA have expressed their views on repealing the Act (Everett and Dawsey, 2017). Nevertheless, it can also be pointed out that there are those who strongly support the Act and give different reasons to explain the reasons why they are in support of the Act. This essay focuses on the topic of Obamacare and discusses in detail the reasons why the Act should be ammended.
The individuals likely to opt out of insurance are those who are young and healthy. However, without healthy people paying into the system, insurance companies are forced to raise rates for ill patients in order to make a profit. In this situation, those with long-term health conditions may not be able to afford treatment. For example, a family of four could find a monthly plan for as little as $433 with a $0 deductable, but only if they were to receive regular treatment and medication. A plan like this would not cover treatment like chemotherapy, which can cost over $10,000 for a single course. With Obamacare, families can afford to buy insurance that will cover treatments for cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. If Trump succeeds in repealing the ACA it could leave sick patients with no choice but to decide between inevitable death or financial ruin.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is an act passed by president Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. This act, which provides affordable health insurance to Americans, was passed for three primary reasons. These reasons are to reduce the number of individuals in the United States who currently are not covered by some form of health insurance, to improve the availability and quality of existing health care programs, and to reduce the cost of health care to individuals and the government (“Patient Protection”, 2014). The Affordable Care Act has been successful in some ways, but ineffective in other ways since it was passed in March of 2010. For example, Obamacare has helped expand Medicaid and has helped those who have Medicare. However, this act has had a negative impact on the uninsured and on insurance premiums. In addition, some small businesses have benefited from this act, while others have had a negative effect. The Affordable Care Act has many pros, but it also has some cons, which is why there are still some changes and ideas that I would like to see implemented in our healthcare system.
In 2010, congress enacted President Obama’s National Health Care Act; as a result, it allows Americans to receive affordable health care. President Obama’s National Healthcare plan, otherwise known as the Affordable Care Act, is anything but affordable. The Affordable Care Act is not affordable for citizens that are in the nation’s lower income brackets. The Affordable Care Act is a great government conscious decision for their citizens; however, the Affordable Care Act at the time of its inception was very fiscally irresponsible by our government. The Affordable Care Act must be affordable for Americans across multiple social and economic backgrounds and should take into account the ability to pay.
Over half of uninsured Americans can get free or low cost health insurance. Some can even get help on out-of-pocket costs using their state’s Health Insurance Marketplace. ObamaCare has many protection that ensure you that you can’t be dropped from coverage when you get sick or make a mistake on
Through successful implementation millions of Americans would benefit from the imposition of health insurance through the ACA. The law intended to cover the poorest Americans under the Medicaid expansion option and to cover low and middle-income earners with new health insurance exchanges. However, in June 2012, the Supreme Court overruled a portion of this landmark victory by giving each state the option to forego the Medicaid expansion provision. The Court’s ruling creates a breach in the ACA’s potential to afford healthcare to the working poor and abandons those who do not quite qualify for market place subsidies. Consequently, a large segment of the United States population will remain uninsured due to the lack of affordability.
I’m sure you have heard many debates, discussions, and opinions about the law ObamaCare. Do you know what this law was implemented for? Do you know why some could support it or want it repealed? Do you realize how much money one could leave the taxpayers to pay for their unpaid medical bills because they could not afford insurance? “ObamaCare, officially called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) but more often called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for short, reforms the health insurance industry and the American health care system as a whole” (ObamaCare Facts). Barack Obama and the Supreme Court ruling in 2012 gave Americans better rights and more protection for access to universal affordable quality healthcare to the uninsured population. ObamaCare was not designed to change the way one gets insurance, but to alleviate the national health care crisis of forty-four million uninsured Americans. I chose to do my research paper over this particular topic because I wanted to learn more information on how the working middle class could obtain insurance for them and/or their families. I also wanted to know how people who are uninsured could have access to ObamaCare and what ObamaCare actually does for the uninsured.
The Benefits of the Affordable Care Act to Our People and Our Health Care System
On March 23, 2010 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama, raising the question for many of whether this new law was going to be more helpful or hurtful. With universal healthcare, healthcare coverage would be increased tremendously, costs would be reduced, jobs would be created, and consumers would be protected. Conversely, it will also raise taxes and wait times, lead to a smaller number of doctors, and infringe on some employers’ 1st amendment rights. Presenting both arguments for and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allows one to draw a conclusion on whether the new program will benefit or hinder the citizens of the United States.
Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century the United States has always had a realization that there was a problem with obtaining affordable health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in March 2010. This law enables people who were unable to afford healthcare the ability to obtain a healthcare plan at an affordable rate. In 2009 a survey was taken as to the amount of people in the United States that carried health insurance. In table one below you can see over 50 million people in the United States did not have any type of insurance, which is close to 17 percent of the population (see table 1 below). “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “32%