A Brief Note On The Affordable Care Act

Since 1984, Medicare patients have been serviced under the prospective payment system of the Medicare program. Under this system, primary care providers are reimbursed for their services using a fixed payment for each patient that is determined by the patient’s diagnosis-related group at the time of the admission. Therefore, under the prospective payment system a hospital’s reimbursement is unaffected by the actual expenditures that are required to care for a patient.

It improves quality and lowers health care costs by giving free preemptive care, prescription discounts for elders, protects against health care fraud, and gives small business tax credits. Patient Protection and Affordable Care act also gives new clients protection, meaning they can’t be dropped from their insurance if they have a preexisting condition or if a patient gets sick. In addition, Patient Protection and Affordable Care act implemented a new health insurance marketplace- allowing shoppers to compare health plans that benefited them to get the most out of their insurance policy, gave cost assistance to individuals, families, and businesses, eligibility to Medicaid was expanded giving millions of Americans access to health insurance, having no annual or lifetime limits of healthcare, having all medical insurances give a guaranteed issue- meaning they can’t deny coverage for any reason, the patient gets the right to petition any health insurance company decision, the patient gets access to an informal, easy to understand summary about a health plan’s benefits and coverage, young adults can stay on the insurance plan of their parents until they are 26, large enhancements to women’s health services, better protection and care for seniors, new precautionary services at no out of pocket costs, and essential health benefits such as emergency care, hospitalization, prescription drugs, and maternity and

Health care reform legislation known as The Patient Protection and Affordable care Act (ACA) was finally passed and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. The Affordable Care Act imposes an individual mandate for health insurance that became effective on January 1, 2014. Every individual that is a US citizen and legal resident must have health insurance.

The Affordable care act was enacted in order to reform the health insurance industry and to make health insurance more affordable and to provide better health care coverage for the citizens of the United States. The Obama administration set out with the goals of: expanding access to health insurance, lower the uninsured rate, and to reduce the costs of healthcare. The focus of the act is to use regulations on the federal and state level to maximize health care coverage for all citizens of the U.S. In this section I will examine the factors that have come to play into the creation of the affordable care act and the back ground

The Affordable Care Act (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), commonly called "Obamacare," is a federal statute that was signed into law in March of 2010 (PDF, n.d.; Van de Water, 2011). It basically requires the vast majority of people in the United States who do not have insurance coverage to acquire that coverage or face penalties. People who already have insurance through their employers or on their own will not be asked to change companies. Additionally, anyone who is on federally-funded insurance such as Medicaid or Medicare and still qualifies for those programs will not be removed from their insurance. They will still be covered and protected. In order to find out more about the Act and really understand its main points and principles, however, it is very important to be aware of how it became a law and any changes that have taken place to it from its inception all the way through where it is today. Only then can a person have a clear understanding of the Act and form an opinion as to the value it may (or may not) provide to the American public. There is still much speculation and a great deal of misunderstanding about the Act and what it involves.

The purpose of The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to increase access and make it more affordable for all Americans. Unfortunately, the US health care delivery system lacks the ability to plan, direct, and coordinate from a central agency making it difficult for citizens to obtain health coverage. For that reason, The Affordable Care Act in 2010 became the most extensive health care reform in US history with its main objective to reduce the number of uninsured. The ACA permitted some standards in the health care delivery system to achieve universal coverage. Some examples were authorizing health insurances to start covering children and young adults below the age of 26 under their parents’ health insurance plans also allowing the law to lower

The Affordable Healthcare Act makes healthcare and health insurance more affordable and more available to more Americans. It is able to do this by new consumer protections, rules and regulations on the healthcare industry. This is shown when creating a marketplace for subsidized insurance, and reforming and expanding public healthcare programs. These include Medicare and Medicaid. This act can also include measures to cut the growth in healthcare spending in the United States.

The Affordable Care Act is the new health reform law that was signed into action on March 23, 2010. The Affordable Care Act attempts to reform the healthcare system by providing Americans with affordable health insurance. It helps put individuals, businesses, and families in control of their own healthcare. By the sound of it, it really looks like this is something that will positively impact the lives of Americans, and make it easier for individuals to obtain health insurance. Unfortunately, what many Americans are unaware of is that there are so many underlying issues that make the Affordable Care Act not so affordable. Issues such as penalties and taxes that certainly rack up the cost on individuals, businesses and even hospitals that make it difficult for people and businesses to be in “control” of their health care.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obama Care) was passed by congress and signed into law by then President Barack Obama in March of 2010. The plan was promised to lower health care costs for millions of Americans while adding 30 million people to the covered pool of individuals in the country.

While the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2010, the most significant changes in the healthcare system began in 2013 with the expansion of Medicaid. According to the ACA’s official website, the law’s main goals are to create cost efficient health insurance and medical services, as well as expand Medicaid so that the stated programs will be available to more Americans. (“Affordable Care Act (ACA)”). To do so, the ACA imposed many requirements on both sides of the health care system. The ACA has expanded federal regulations on private insurance providers by requiring that these companies cannot deny coverage based on the health of the beneficiary. The ACA has also established a marketplace for health insurance to be purchased by small businesses and individuals. Finally, the most noteworthy reform is the requirement for all Americans to purchase minimum coverage, or pay a penalty. However, those who cannot afford coverage and have “an income below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level eligible for Medicaid” will be paid for by the government (“The Affordable Care Act in the US”).

The ACA is made up of a series of additions of and changes, to the multiple laws that are made up from the legal framework of the U.S. healthcare system. This act establishes the basic legal protections that have been nonexistent to the United States, will now guarantee access to affordable health insurance coverage for Americans, from when they are born, all the way through his or her retirement. The act hopes in cutting the number of uninsured Americans by more than half of the U.S. population (Rosenbaum, 2011, p.130). This law hopes to result in health insurance coverage for about 94% of the American population (Rosenbaum, 2011, p. 130). This will reduce the population of uninsured Americans by 31 million people, and increase Medicaid enrollment by 15 million recipients (Rosenbaum, 2011, p. 130). Approximately 24 million people are still expected to remain without a coverage plan. The act has several goals. For instance, one goal of the ACA is to have a close to universal coverage system, with the help and responsibility among individuals, employers, and largely, the government. The second goal is to improve the fairness, condition, and affordable prices of health insurance coverage for Americans (Rosenbaum, 2011, p. 130). Lastly, a third goal is to improve the quality of health care through value, excellence, and effectiveness while trying to reduce inefficient spending and making the healthcare system more reachable to a diverse population (Rosenbaum,

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was the biggest milestone to date in American health care policy (Saldin, 2011). There is nothing more complex or controversial in recent history than the passing of the ACA in 2010 (Davidson, 2016). The three goals of the ACA are to expand access to quality care with affordable insurance for all, work with innovation to lower health care cost, and shift focus from treatment to prevention (Rosenbaum, 2011).

President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010. This law puts in place widespread health insurance reforms that expanded out over the last 4 years and continues to change the lives of many Americans today. Health care reform has been an extensively debated topic for multiple years, and the ACA is the first effective attempt at passing a law aiming to make health care not only affordable, but accessible for all individuals. The law impacts many Americans including, children, employers, government programs which includes federal and state, health plans and private insurers, health care coverage, health care cost, and the quality of care received. The main goal of the law is to expand health care coverage, broaden Medicaid eligibility, minimize and regulate health care cost, and improve the health care delivery system. In order to improve the health care delivery there have been new consumer protections established and an increase access to affordable care.

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as “Obamacare”, has drastically altered healthcare in America. The goal of this act was to give Americans access to affordable, high quality insurance while simultaneously decreasing overall healthcare spending. The ACA had intended to maximize health care coverage throughout the United States, but this lofty ambition resulted in staggeringly huge financial and human costs.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 23rd, 2010 by President Barack Obama. This radical health care law was a much-needed step in comprehensive health insurance reform. Three important features of the Affordable Care Act are 1. Improving quality and lowering health care costs 2. New consumer protections and 3. Increased access to healthcare. (Key Features. 2014). Under the umbrella of these three key features additional benefits include free preventive care, drug discounts for senior citizens, increased protection against health care fraud, small business tax credits, increased access to health care through the health insurance marketplace, consumer assistance, and non-discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.