Introduction
In 2010, the United States took the first tangible step toward universal health care coverage, with the legalization of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent report the total population of the United States is nearly 309 million people (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). In 2009, it was estimated 49 % of the population was covered under an employer sponsored insurance plan (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2009). The same 2009 data reported an additional 29 % of the population was covered under some form of government or public program (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2009). Leaving 17 % of the U.S. population vulnerable without any form of health insurance coverage (Kaiser
…show more content…
“In total an estimated 2.3 million adult children were enrolled in their parent’s employer-sponsored health plan due to the Affordable Care Act” (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2011). Reports show that the young adult demographic recognize the importance of health care coverage and have started to take advantage of this new benefit. Business reported an increase in the enrolled number of adult children who would not be covered without the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2011).
In addition to an expansion of who is covered by insurance plans there were also significant changes made to what is covered by insurance plans. Insurance carriers will no deny health care coverage to individuals because of pre-existing conditions (OpenCongress). This is an advantage for individuals that cannot find coverage due to chronic conditions. The new legislation also prohibits a health plan from canceling coverage of a member unless there is evidence of fraud (OpenCongress). Insurance companies will no longer be allowed to dis-enroll members when they have an expensive catastrophic injury or chronic illness. Insurance companies will no longer have lifetime maximum benefits that cap a patient’s coverage. This provision is aimed at protecting the patient from the insurance company, however this well-intentioned provision may prove costly if there
The Medicare, Medicaid, and other types of public funded health insurance programs are the other major sources of insurance in the United States. These types of insurance programs target some particular populations of people and most Americans don’t fall into such populations. This mode of healthcare coverage left over 50 million American (17.6 of the population) including about 7.5 million children, without any form of health coverage in 2009. (Lapierre,2012)
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands access to coverage to millions of Americans, a goal health plans have long supported, but major provisions will raise costs and disrupt coverage for individuals, families, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. The broad market reforms outlined in the ACA take effect on January 1, 2014. Individuals and families purchasing insurance in the individual market will be guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions, and their premiums cannot vary based on their gender or medical history. There will also be subsidies to help consumers afford the cost of coverage, and new health insurance exchanges will help consumers find the policies that best meet their needs. At the same time, other
The Act also contains an increase in consumer insurance protections. The Act restricts the ability of insurance companies to implement lifetime caps on insurance coverage; to exclude coverage for children with pre-existing conditions; prohibits insurance companies from cancelling coverage except in cases of fraud; and to establish safeguards against unreasonable increases in insurance premiums.
The ACA of 2010 has a key goal of increasing access to health care by providing uninsured American’s with options to obtain health insurance. One way this is being done is allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance plan, up to the age of 26 (HHS, n.d.). Another example is the option for states to expand Medicaid, and receive funding from the federal government to accomplish this. Medicaid covers
Public policy is a system of laws, regulatory measures, a course of action by which a government maintains order or addresses the needs of its citizens through actions defined by its constitution. The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act is a great example of the power vested in the government to establish laws that will assist in health care reform to provide coverage for many. The PPACA was signed into law in March 2010 by President Barak Obama. This act represents a major adjusting of the health care system in the United States. The Act affirms that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care. There have been many debates and questions of the constitutionally of the health care law. The issue of the “individual mandate” is one that was highly debated and objected by many. The individual mandate requires that all individuals to purchase some minimally insurance policy or pay a penalty. Many feel that such a policy represents a fundamental threat to liberty and an unprecedented leap of power by the federal government and clearly unconstitutional. On June 28, 2012, in a 5 to 4 ruling the Supreme Court upheld that President Obama’s health care overhaul, indicating that it’s a requirement that most Americans obtain insurance or pay a penalty was authorized by Congress’s
In 2010 during the term of President Barack Obama something needed to be done due to the rise of healthcare costs and the number of people who were uninsured and unable to pay their healthcare bills (ehealthinsurance 2014). United States spent more on healthcare than any other country but yet was only the 34th in life expectancy. These are some of the many reasons why The Affordable Care Act came about and was signed into a health care law. This landmark law impacted and changed many aspects of the healthcare system, as well as influenced everyone’s healthcare options in the United States. The Affordable Care Act has been just about been one of the most
Health care cost has been constantly rising and a problem in this country for years. Millions go without much needed medical care every year due to the lack of health care. For many the emergency room is their first contact with medical care. The Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA) intends to significantly decrease the number of uninsured in American. The PPACA, is said to be most comprehensive insurance reform since 1965, (the year in which Medicare and Medicaid were implemented) was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama. PPACA will renovate the entire United States’ insurance market. PPACA requires most citizens to either purchase health care coverage privately or through their employer, or face a penalty.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was implemented in March of 2010 by President Barak Obama. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obama care went into effect on January 1st of 2014. More than half of the United States of America was uninsured before the ACA was put into effect. The goal of the ACA is to provide those who fall in the “gap” with health insurance.
The Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, by definition, is “a social contract of health care solidarity through private ownership, markets, choice, and individual responsibility. While some might regard this contract as the unnatural
In 2010, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, PPACA, or ACA, became a law. This act, along with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, comprise the health care reform platform initiated and signed by President Obama. For the American public, there are abundant reasons for dissatisfaction: “higher costs; arbitrary and sometimes absurd rulemaking; bureaucratization of an already overly bureaucratized sector of the economy; incompatibility with personal freedom and religious liberty; enormous spending and heavy taxation; and widely acknowledged design flaws, evident in the ACA’s hopelessly complex and unworkable subsidy schemes, boondoggle bailouts, and collapsing co-ops” (Moffit, 2016). For many Americans, opposition to the Affordable Care Act is rightly rooted in their rejection of the tactics and assumptions underlying its structural design.
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the most comprehensive reform of the U.S. medical system in at least 45 years. The ACA transforms the non-group insurance market in the United States, mandates that most residents have health insurance, significantly expands public insurance and subsidizes private insurance coverage, raises revenues from a variety of new taxes, and reduces and reorganizes spending under the nation’s largest health insurance plan, Medicare. If fully implemented, the ACA promises to lead to a dramatically different health care landscape for the United States in the years to come. Projecting the impacts of such fundamental reform to the health care system is fraught with difficulty. But such projections were required for the legislative process, and were delivered by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). CBO projected that the ACA would increase health insurance coverage by 32 million people and would raise federal government spending by almost $1 trillion over the subsequent decade, but would raise revenues and reduce spending by even more so that the bill overall reduced the federal budget deficit. These CBO projections were central to the legislative debate over the ACA. In this paper, I will discuss the impact of the ACA in more detail, and describe evidence that sheds light upon the accuracy of the projections. I begin by reviewing in broad detail the structure of the ACA.
When you become uninsured you have limitations in health coverage that could impair affordability and use of needed care (Sonfield, et.al, 2013). Under the new provisions of the PPACA, some of the practices that have been common in the private insurance market such as annual and lifetime limits on coverage and also limitation because of preexisting medical conditions or even gender rating (charging high premiums to women than men) will be eliminated (Sonfield, et.al, 2013)
President Obama on March 23, 2010 signed one of the biggest reforming acts of our century, the Affordable Care Act or to some refer to it as “Obama Care”. This was President Obama’s finest moments for some and for others it was believed that it wasn’t great idea to create such a law act. The Affordable Care Act law was created and established to change everything about health care and bring in magnificent reforms. This law was given to citizens to have access to healthcare despite income or any pre-existing conditions or stipulations. Most are the benefits that are offered by Obama Care is that: Children can’t be denied care because of a pre-existing condition, specific persons with pre-existing conditions can now have insurance access, and young adults can stay in their parents’ insurance until the age of 26. Insurance coverage aren’t and can’t be denied because of any errors made on the application, which wasn’t allowed in the past.
This brief summarizes the extension of dependant coverage to adult children up to age 26. With little restrictions adult children may remain on their parent’s insurance until the age of 26. While this policy greatly eases the strain of starting a career in the current economic environment, does it truly benefit the young adult cohort? This brief examines the impact on the college graduate specifically. A thorough epidemiologic study needs to be undertaken to evaluate the effects the policy has on the cohort. More affordable insurance plans tailored for young adults with a focus on prevention could also help the cohort make the transition from college to career. There are pros and cons to each option. A thorough
The Affordable Care Act started changing the country’s health-care system almost from the moment it was signed into law in March 2010. It has already expanded coverage of young adults by allowing them to stay on their parents’ plans until they turn 26, outlawed lifetime limits on what insurance will cover, lowered the cost of drugs for seniors on Medicare, caused 13 million consumers to get premium rebates totaling some $1.1 billion, and expanded access to free preventive care for patients of all ages. Last summer it survived a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court.