Affordable Care Act Analysis

Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act, implemented by President Barack Obama is the one of the major healthcare reform in America after Medicare’s implementation. Also it is one of the most debatable issues in the present times. Many are doubtful about its long term effects while many more are happy that they would finally be insured. It is of no doubt that the Obama Administration has brought in ACA with a very noble and optimistic intention of providing insurance and healthcare coverage to each and every citizen of America. However from a public administrative point of view it is essential to think about both the potential benefits and harms of this act on the healthcare economy. The reviewed articles discuss about why and how the ACA was implemented, how the architects are ACA are expecting it to benefit the society and what would be the effects of its implementation. The articles from healthcare journals discuss about the effects of ACA on the quality of healthcare.

I have chosen the topic “Examine the financial characteristics of health care delivery along with managing costs, revenues, and human

The Affordable Care Act is considered to be a landmark legislation that sought to bring changes to overhaul the health care system within the United States. While the ACA has brought necessary improvements and changes to how health care is handled, it has also directly affected many stakeholders within the health care industry. The major stakeholders of health care are considered to affect each and every aspect of the massive industry, and can be influential. This paper will be specifically addressing the effects of the ACA on the employer stakeholder group. It will talk about the new responsibilities and taxes employers must face, how the ACA is currently affecting employers at the moment and into the future, how the employees and their dependents will be affected by these changes, and finally what strategies employers can take to mitigate

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.

Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law nearly five years ago, the rhetoric overt the law and its provisions continue in Congress and around every kitchen table in America. While no one disagrees the healthcare system prior to the passage of the ACA was flawed, healthcare reform under the ACA continues to evolve and is likely to continue evolving in the future. Despite this, it is the law, and the healthcare industry is doing its best to keep up with the law’s mandates. For the hospital healthcare administrator, there are numerous changes affecting how hospitals do business, not only with the insurance industry, but with patients as well. The following overview discusses the basics of the ACA, the positive and negative ramifications for hospitals, and the impact the law will have for years to come. Although the final incarnation of the Affordable Care Act will develop over time, its premise of ending healthcare disparities and quality care for all citizens is long overdue.

The PPACA will also have a direct negative impact on the medical field as a whole. By 2025 there is expected to be a shortage of nearly 52,000 physicians. This, coupled with the number of office visits increasing over 100 million times, will put incredible strain on the healthcare system (“The Patient Protection”). This will cause wait times for medical treatment to be greatly increased. Patients will be more likely to go to the emergency room for minor treatments, such as coughs due to colds, thus causing patients with real emergencies to wait even longer. Also, there will be no competition for patients. This competition is what encourages health care workers to excel in their specialties and to become better. This may even cause fewer people to choose to pursue a career in the medical profession (Ireland).

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may negatively impact some employees; if an employee has coverage through its employer the insurance premium must be less than 9.5% of their income. For example if the employee premium is $3600 a year and the 20% share of the premium is $720 and the employee makes $45,000 a year; $45,000 x 9.5%= $4275 which is greater than $720. Therefore this coverage would be deemed affordable. However if this particular employee has a family of four the premium for the family would be an additional $7500 a year. In this case this individual would be eligible for tax credits to help afford the health insurance coverage if their employer did not provide health coverage (Lee, 2013).

The negative impacts of healthcare reform to health systems are significant in that health systems are preparing their resources on developing Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) for bundled payments and population-based reimbursement. In this economy the impact to health systems may require healthcare systems to figure out ways to continue to keep positive financial performance due to the cost-reduction of healthcare reform. For some time now, health systems have subsidized their losses from the Medicare and Medicaid systems by contracting with commercial payers for their premium rates. As a result of the healthcare reform, cost shifting will shrink. Another negative impact over the next few years will be the large shift in health plan enrollment. Less people will be covered by highly

The purpose of the Affordable Care Act is to make health insurance more affordable for those who may not have health insurance or those who do, but have little to no coverage. While a vast majority of Americans had health insurance previously to the enacting of ACA, the new law was for people who did not want to buy it or could not afford insurance (Clark J.,

First, the act addresses major reforms to undertake in the health insurance sector to improve access to quality health care. The age of dependent coverage increased to 26 years, limits on annual benefits eliminated and challenges faced by those with preexisting medical conditions in getting a cover addressed. In addition, insurance documentation became uniform to allow for comparison (McClanahan, 2012). Thus, more Americans can access an insurance cover without increasing premiums.

The law was passed to increase the number of insured Americans and mandate coverage. The purpose of the act was to reshape the health and insurance system for all Americans. According to ‘obamacare.net’

There is an ongoing debate regarding the potency of the new health care reform—Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—from the outset of its proposal. Many attempts had been presented in the past years but the root of the issue remains prevalent today, that there is a lack of quality in its delivery and the cost of care is continuously increasing beyond national economic edges. In this manuscript, we will discuss several factors that can positively sway the long-term significance, impact, and structure of the United States health care system. Many are wondering whether the Universal Coverage, to which will give more control and

Moreover, the introduction of the Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs, regulatory oversight by the Food and Drug Administration, and state licensure boards have impacted the whole healthcare industry (Fortenberry & Fortenberry, 2010). Consequently, the operations of the healthcare industry are affected by economic forces. The high infrastructural development in the country has enhanced the efficiency of healthcare organizations. However, the rate of unemployment in the country is

The future and direction of health care has been the topic of discussion amongst politician and U.S citizens today. There are several challenges surrounding the future and strategic direction in which health care should be heading. Accreditation, quality of health care and organization’s compliance; access to health care, maintaining a skilled workforce, information technology and pay for performance are some of the challenges that currently presenting itself in healthcare today. If health care is not dealt with appropriately it will have a significant effect an impact on the strategic direction in the future and direction of care.

In 2014 the ACA required most Americans have some sort of health plan or pay a fine. As stated in the Affordable care act “people who do not purchase insurance under the individual mandate will be subject to a fine of either $95 or 1 percent of a person’s taxable income the first year, whichever figure is larger. The fine will gradually increase to $695 or 2.5 percent of a person taxable income by 2016”. The Health care program is also met to help improve the quality of health care. Although, health care is a good thing to have, I believe people should be able to choose if it works for their family. The program also requires business owners to offer health care for all employees or they will be penalized.