Health care is a controversial matter that unceasingly comprises of disagreements within the government. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is one hot button issue that has been in the news since being signed into law. The act was designed to increase health insurance quality and affordability, lower the uninsured rate, and reduce the costs of healthcare. Under the act, health care practices transformed monetarily, technically, and clinically to initiate better health outcomes, lower costs, and improve methods of distribution and accessibility. Meanwhile in result of the act, many health private insurance companies canceled plans for over a million people because they did not comply with the ACA’s essential health benefits. The Affordable …show more content…
The health care issue events and course of Obama’s Affordable Care Act can be explained utilizing the policy process model on page 16 in our class book. I. Issue Definition This stage is a political process that transforms a problem into an issue that the government can address (Fowler, 2013). It is in this stage that the Democrats developed a striking image of healthcare issues and associated alluring goals to gain public support. They presented their case on why healthcare should be improved. Two top issues involved health care costs and the quality of health care systems. Coordinated care helps ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, with the goal of reducing hospital readmissions, avoiding duplication of services, preventing medical errors, and saving Medicare money (Carper, n.d.). By way of funding and support, substantial variations to improve health care delivery systems can be implemented. II. Agenda Setting An issue must be placed on the policy agenda and must be given a great deal of governmental attention. While the idea of promoting health care reform may have been fabricated up as a political maneuver, there was considerable support for changes to the existing manner in which health care is provided in the United States among many Americans and their elected officials. The task was enormous, and the implications yet to be fully determined, but the 2,000-page bill that
Health insurance and the affordable care act is a major topic in the United States today. This being said, there are many questions that run through one’s mind when the topic is discussed. Questions such as, what exactly is health insurance? What is the Aetna-Humana merge, and how beneficial is it? Should healthy citizens help pay for citizens with prior known health issues? Should people with preexisting conditions even have the option to purchase insurance to help cover medical cost? Although the Affordable Care Act has been in effect for a few years now, there are still some problems today the health insurers face because of this law.
If there is one thing that most Americans are in agreement with, it is the vile shape of our U.S. health care system. There is no argument that the U.S. health care system is in need of an overhaul, however, there is much debate over just how to effectively go about the process. The public have voiced greatest concern in the health care areas of costs, quality and access. Many presidents have pondered the idea of health care reform; a few even made attempts to start the ball rolling. The first
One of the most important and hotly debated policy points of the 2008 election season was that of healthcare reform. The badly ailing, highly wasteful and economically imbalanced American healthcare system has been in desperate need of a regulatory overhaul. This formed the basis of one of President Obama's defining electoral promises and paved the ground for the enactment of a major federal policy change. Following Obama's election, the new administration began work on garnering research and support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Passed into law on March 23rd, 2010, the new legislation would emerge as a highly contested, extremely dense and deeply complex body of initiatives that would not only show how politically and ideologically divided our leadership has become but also would serve as a perfectly representative demonstration of how healthcare initiatives become laws at the federal level.
Charles, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was intended to correct the historical issues related to cost and access in the health care system in America (Pagel, Bates, Goldmann & Koller, 2017). The ACA was an attempt by the US government to ensure access to health insurance was available for more Americans. The historical role of the government in health care prior to the ACA had been that the government should only have a little involvement in the delivery and reimbursement of services with respect to having a role in policy making for the protection of the public’s health (Williams & Torrens, 2008). The role of government involvement has changed through the Medicare and Medicaid government programs. Today, these programs have the
Healthcare in the United States has reached a level of complexity which has perplexed Presidents, Congressional members and private industry for over a century (Palmer, 1999). While the healthcare system has evolved over the last century, policy decisions which have attempted to effectuate changes to cost, quality and access have been
Connors, E.E. and Gostin, L.O., “Health Care Reform-A Historic Moment in US Social Policy.” Journal of the American Medical Association, 303, 2521-2522.
In 1991, fewer than common fraction of USA voters felt that health care was a significant issue. just 2 years later, u. s. President urged Congress to assist him fix a health care system that "is badly broken" (Collins 78). Is that the health care system badly broken? The health care reform dialogue has captured the eye of all Americans. What brought health care reform into the ultimate public spotlight? though our treatment throughout this country is of the best quality, our access thereto care is waning due to higher and better prices. Our health care system desires basic reform. Currently, there ar dozens of reform packages in Congress, but 3 packages supply necessary recommendations toward health care reform: President Clinton's Health
It has been six years since the Affordable Care Act has been implemented into the United States healthcare system. As the pieces and provisions of this monumental federal statute become understood and executed, it is transforming the demand for care. Prior to the ACA, a significant number of Americans were marginalized and unable to obtain coverage. This system was faced increasing healthcare costs, placing greater financial strain to everyday Americans, businesses, and public health insurance systems. The ACA did not only help ensure health coverage for all (almost
Understanding the complex structure of the many health care subsystems in the United States goes a long way to explaining why it is often so hard to get anything done or to create change; a system this complicated does not move quickly or easily—or sometimes, at all. Understanding that the system is made up of multiple separate and unconnected collections of financing and provision of care reveals how difficult it is to carry out any reasonable system-wide planning for the entire system and the entire population (Williams, Torrens, 2007). For these reasons the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the first of its kind in American history, may change the way policy is implemented in the future. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was the first policy to be implemented while breaking almost all of the old legislative rules about communication and public comment and consumption.
In recent years, health care has been a huge topic in public debates, legislations, and even in deciding who will become the next president. There have been many acts, legislations, and debates on what the country has to do in regards to health care. According to University of Phoenix Read Me First HCS/235 (n.d.), “How health care is financed influences access to health care, how health care is delivered, the quality of health care provided, and its cost”.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare,” is a federal law that forever changed America on March 23, 2010. The intention of this law is to provide millions of American citizens who are uninsured or underinsured with reasonable and affordable healthcare coverage. Unfortunately, the law has failed to do so in several ways and has actually created hardship for millions of Americans – some of which were fully covered before the law was put into effect. The name of the legislative act is a mouthful, but its name is nothing compared its 2,700 pages of content that congress “read” before they passed it into law. This law continues to divide the nation and both sides are strong in their beliefs, creating heated discussions and bitter arguments. Proponents of the law feel it is the nation’s duty to grant everybody coverage whereas those that oppose the bill are alarmed at the fiscal implications it brings. Some people have signed up for Medicaid and consigned to a lifetime of poor health care. Others have obtained access to subsidized exchanges, but will find it harder to find employment and make enough to support themselves as a result. Ironically, the most affected population are citizens that already have insurance and paying thousands of dollars per year that will now be squeezed even harder by this
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) 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.
In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, concerns have been raised regarding the Republicans’ desire to repeal the Affordable Care Act, informally referred to as Obamacare. The ACA was originally enacted into law in 2010 and has been annually provisioned to expand its ability to not only improve the nation’s access to health care, but also to reform the health care delivery system. Through the ACA, private and public insurance has become more available and affordable, new health care delivery models have improved quality of care, and several workforce policies have made primary care a more desirable profession for medical students.
Simultaneously, health and healthcare policy plays a tremendous role in the quality of life of every American. Likewise, by the government constantly interceding, health and healthcare is significantly influenced by the political climate and undertakings of administration; therefore creating a conflictual split between republicans and democrats. Health care is regarded as a product rather than a human right shaped by policymaking. Policies establish healthcare service stipulations, which are rooted in local, state, and federal statutes combined with landmark court decisions. Not only does policy focus on healthcare services; but, it also places a substantial emphasis on cost-efficiency and equality.