Health Care Expansion

Texas ranks number one with the highest uninsured rate in the nation, accounting for nearly 6 million people (1). The federal government has nearly $100 billion for Medicaid expansion, out of which $15 billion is needed for expansion in Texas (1). Opting out of Medicaid expansion has left 1.5 million eligible Texans without health insurance (2). Consequently, a 300 percent increase in costs for primary care services, being provided in the emergency department, has been observed (1). Similarly, most hospitals are facing nearly $3-5 billion in losses due to uncompensated care (1).

In the article, This Is What Happens When Your State Blocks The Medicaid Expansion Jonathan Cohn discusses the impact that the Affordable Care Act has had on the percentage of people that have health insurance in the United States. Cohn goes in depth about what the Affordable Care Act is and why it has been so beneficial to the states that have adopted it, most specifically the expansion of Medicaid. Cohn also addresses the loophole that allows states to opt out of the federal program due to a Supreme Court ruling in 2012 that allows states to block the Medicaid expansion. The new Medicaid expansion has helped lots of Americans get access to health insurance that they would not have had access to otherwise, but some states are not taking

The paper will discuss the evolution of health care in America and how it has affected the health care system today. It will discuss the advancements made in technology and medical services that have evolved over two centuries. It will review how health care delivery has evolved and impacted today’s health system. The delivery of medical services has changed over many decades. The culture, social economics, and political views, have influenced society on how the medical services and advancements in medical technology have evolved. The three phases of health care structural change is preindustrial era, postindustrial era, corporate era (Shi & Singh, 2013).

People don’t like being sick, however, some Missourians forego preventive care, required doctor visits and beneficial medicines because they cannot afford them. They may be working in part time jobs, seasonal jobs or other unskilled labor jobs and lack affordable health insurance. They are the poor people below the 138% federal poverty level (FDP). According to Chris Kelly, a former Representative of the Missouri House for district 24, the West Plains hospital Ozark Medical Center’s (OMC) service area includes more than 9,000 uninsured adults (p1). So, what do you do when you are poor and sick and can’t afford a doctor’s visit? You go to the emergency room of a local hospital and the hospital absorbs that

enrolled in the new program. The $8 billion includes the state share of costs for both newly eligible adults and the additional Medicaid participation among currently eligible populations that would result from expansion. If all states implemented the Medicaid expansion, federal spending would increase by $800 billion, or 21 percent, compared to the ACA with no states implementing the expansion (Holahan, et al., 2013). Therefore, although the increase in spending per state is relatively small, the cost to our nation is exponential. With the national debt growing day by day, many believe that an exponential increase in national spending is a difficult thing to justify.

Why is Medicaid a huge topic in Texas and how does it relate to me? This is one important question to consider. Well this paper will help shed light to the matter and illustrate the urgency for action. Just recently Texas had an option to extend Medicaid, but hastily denied. Medicaid Expansion was part of the Obama care reform in which the federal government gave the 52 states an offer to expand the current Medicaid in was that it would include the coverage of low income adults not only children. The latest on the issue is Texas had agreed on a deal but only temporarily. The agreement on the reform has given Texas some light, but not enough to reach through the other side of the tunnel. Eventually, Texas

In the United States, there is an inequitable distribution of power, money, and resources that create health disparities among the different socioeconomic classes (WHO, 2014). The PPACA was created to affect the social determinants of health through the Expansion of Medicaid via the PPACA. An example of health disparities can be seen with life expectancy across the difference levels of social economical levels. In the United States, the upper class individuals live on average 20 years longer than those in the poorer classes (Marmot, 2005).

One of the states that have not participated in the Medicaid expansion is Florida. States that are opting out in the Medicaid expansion can leave several citizens uninsured and their health will be at risk. Currently, since the America’s Supreme Court has given the states more flexibility relating to the Affordable Care Act, some states are opting out of the Medicaid expansion plan that is intended to give low-income citizens in the state dependable healthcare. To reasons the state of Florida opting out the Medicaid expansion, the governor of Florida stated, that Floridians are more interested in economic growth and employment, better quality of education for their children, and that they keep the cost of their living low. Florida State is

A newest way to finance health care now days is the health care reform which it is also called Obama Care. The Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010. The main objective behind the Affordable Care Act was to ensure that affordable health care insurance was available to every U.S citizen. This law is an extensive document that contains many regulations and laws that relate not only to health care but also to the regulation of insurance companies. One of the best known regulations is that group health plans can no longer put limitations or deny benefits to individuals under the age of 19 due to pre-existing conditions and individuals under the age of 26, are now eligible to be covered under their parents’

This paper covers the topic of Texas refusing to expand Medicaid. We will look at where the social welfare program came from, and also look at Obama and his affordable healthcare act in relation to how that is ties into the expansion of Medicaid and why Obama president felt that it was important. We will look at Governor Rick Perry’s along with Governor Greg Abbott’s viewpoints and why it is they that feel expanding Medicaid would not have been in the best interests of Texas. Finally we will take a look at my viewpoints on all of the issues currently at hand.

The US pays twice as much yet lags other wealthy nations in such measures as infant mortality and life expectancy, which are among the most widely collected, hence easily compared, international statistics. Many people are underinsured, for example, in Colorado "of those with insurance for a full year, 36.3% were underinsured."[6][7] About 10.7 million insured Americans spend more than a quarter of their annual paychecks on health care because of the high deductible polices.[8]

The Affordable Care Act was put in place by President Obama in 2010, providing Americans access to affordable health insurance. But South Carolina’s governor, the republican Nikki Haley is still rejecting the Medicaid expansion. My paper has detailed information on why Governor Haley and republicans made their decision to opt out of the expansion. Also, alternate approaches to expanding access to care and implementing or reconsidering the state’s decision of opting out of the expansion. Finally, recommendations to the state legislature to convey opting out of Medicaid expansion.

Many Americans believe that their health care system is the finest in North America, and probably among the best in the world. This is not true. The American health care system ranked last out of 10 other developed countries’ systems, including Australia, Germany, Canada, France, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, in a survey by the Commonwealth Fund in 2014 (Hellmann). Countries received ranks according to several factors, like access to a physician or quality of care (Hellmann). That same year, an estimated 42 million Americans under age 65 were without health insurance, according to a survey by the Congressional Budget Office (“Health Reform”). America also ranks 26th among 36 countries in the

Health care reform in the United States has a long history. Reforms have often been proposed but have rarely been accomplished.Future reforms of the American health care system continue to be proposed, with notable proposals including a single payer system and a reduction in fee for service medical care.

To realize the importance of Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act we must first examine the past and how far we have come. The uncertainness of healthcare insurance has been an uphill battle for decades. During World War I, health insurance became an important public issue in the United States. Between 1915 and 1920, eight states appointed official commissions to investigate the subject. The movement for health insurance was initiated by the American Association for Labor Legislation, which had conducted an energetic and successful campaign for workers compensation laws.