Implementing Health Care Reform For A State With High Needs And Limited Funds

Critically analyze the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state.

Texas, which currently has a large uninsured population and limited Medicaid eligibility, forfeits billions of dollars from the federal government every year by not expanding its Medicaid program as implemented in the Affordable Care Act. In contrast, Medicaid expansion could benefit the state exponentially and give its citizens the fullest potential of what this country offers. A substantial amount of federal funding that could increase uninsured coverage, improve healthcare costs, and provide economic stimulus is left on the table. Additionally, the nation benefits when each state participates, contributing to the success of the healthcare reform.

The potential opportunity for the state to opt into the Medicaid expansion is the fact that low-income citizens will be insured. The decision of the state to opt into the Medicaid expansion will also impact the state’s budget, and this is the main challenge (Frakt, 2013). The government will cover majority of all the cost even as Medicaid expansion provides coverage for the low-income uninsured citizens. Expansion of the Medicaid is also a broken system that has poor outcomes, not severe federal strings, high inflation and no incentive for the personal responsibility of the citizens who

states expanded Medicaid coverage to nonelderly adults who make $16,400 per year or less for a single adult. Michigan legislators could approve a unique model for the expansion of Medicaid coverage. Previously uninsured adults with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level would now be able to revise healthcare benefits ((Dr. Ayanian, 2017). The “Healthy Michigan Plan enrollment has vastly exceeded expectations, surpassing the state’s first year projection in less than four months” (Udow-Phillips, et al, 2015). The federal funding for the Medicaid expansion has increased economic benefits to the Michigan budget. There was a reduced state spending of $235 million on services covered by the expanded Medicaid program and the macroeconomic benefit through increases in tax revenue and the expansion of economic activity from the new federal funding through the ACA (Dr. Ayanian, 2017). This increase in the economic activity benefits Michigan residents through increased employment and the increase has been shown to be positive for health care, construction, and retail services.

Throughout the early 1980’s and 1990’s the Federal Medicaid program was challenged by rapidly rising Medicaid program costs and an increasing number of uninsured population. One of the primary reasons for the overall increase in healthcare costs is the

Some states have accepted the terms of the program including all of its expansion on the health care system, but some have been reluctant to implement the program. One of those reluctant states has been Florida, which is apparent by multiple court cases that has come since its inception (1). With Florida’s House of Representative consisting of a majority of Republicans, the conservatives of the state have fought the incorporation of the bill (2). With legislative bodies in opposition of the terms of the Affordable Care Act, it begs to question how policy makers have approached the issue of healthcare. My research question was in what ways the Affordable Health Care Act has affected healthcare in Florida, and how effective has it been in

The enactment of the ACA in 2014 would make it possible for more working and nonworking parents to qualify for Medicaid. Based on the income levels, 51% of working and 37% of nonworking parents qualified for Medicaid prior to the ACA. Afterwards, the percentage increased to 138% for working and nonworking parents, and childless individuals. The projections showed a 38% increase in the number of children 6-18 eligible for Medicaid coverage and fewer on the North Carolina’s Health Choice insurance plan. This increase would have been huge based on the case study (Short, 2013). State officials chose not to go with the Medicaid expansion program, and instead offered marketplace exchanges. This could mean North Carolina would potentially have a large number of uninsured

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

Hill, I., Wilkinson, M., & Courtot, B. (2014). The Launch of the Affordable Care Act in Selected states: Outreach, education, and enrollment assistanc

Texas has the largest uninsured population with an estimated 6.2 million uninsured citizens within its stateliness, approximately a quarter of the statewide population (Rapoport, 2012). In 2012, then governor, Rick Perry decided that Texas would not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This decision led to much debate over whether or not Perry made the right decision to leave upwards of a million Texans, who did not receive insurance subsidies and did not qualify for Medicaid, uninsured. These Texans fell under what many politicians refer to as the “coverage gap.” Texas decided not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act because of the effects it would have on hospitals, financial reasons, and increased number of

One of the most controversial issues in politics today is healthcare, specifically ObamaCare, also known as Affordable Care Act (ACA), which has effectively insured millions of low-income American households. Under the ObamaCare, Medicaid has been expanded to states that want to participate. It plays an exceptionally crucial role in the healthcare coverage, and access for rural communities as they are more likely to “be poorer, less likely to have insurance, and less intense users of medical services overall” (Richards et al., 2016, p. 573). A study conducted by the Health Services Research found that Medicaid patients received appointments nearly 80% of the time in rural areas, but only 60% in nonrural areas (Richards et al., 2016, p. 570).

The Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, just over five years ago. Since then the healthcare industry, and even organizations outside the industry, have been affected in many ways; from new reimbursement models, opening healthcare exchanges, millions of individuals gaining insurance that they previously did not have, and a plethora of new regulations just to name a few. Although the law was passed in 2010, it wasn’t until 2014 that millions of newly insured participants entered into the system when much of the affects were initially recognized. However, even with two enrollment periods under our belt, a new enrollment period set to begin in a month, along with additional regulations still to be fully recognized, how the

Holahan, J., Buettgens, M., Carroll, C., & Dorn, S. (2012). The cost and coverage implications of the ACA Medicaid expansion: National and state-by-state analysis (Publication # 8384). Retrieved from The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/8384.pdf

The Affordable Healthcare Act is expected to increase medical coverage to include an additional 30 million people. What has become clearer is that just because coverage was expanded does not mean an expansion of actual care. “When Congress enacted the national health law, it unleashed a potential tsunami of newly insured patients, flooding a delivery system that was already strained and fragile. The American health care infrastructure has had workforce shortages for decades and is not prepared to meet such a vast influx of patients effectively or efficiently” (Anderson, 2014). It takes years to train nurse and doctors of which the healthcare act does not take into consideration. What ends up happening is

In 2006, the state of Massachusetts set out to close the gap in the number of uninsured citizens within its borders. The number of uninsured non-elderly adults in the state was nearly 17% (Chandra, 2011a). The same author said executives in the state realized the growing problem and were earnestly looking for ways to promote individual responsibility. One primary way of closing this gap has been through the development and implementation of what was called the Massachusetts Commonwealth Connector: a consumer-driven internet based healthcare market place. Although proposed in 2006, it wasn’t until 2008 that the system was rolled out at the state level (Chandra, 2011b).