Affordable Care Act Research Paper

Amber Harris
Diane Mercer
Honors English 1
23 April 2016

Affordable Care Act Affordable Care Act is the notion of affordability and the role of health insurance in making otherwise unaffordable health care affordable (Nyman and Trenz 264). The Affordable Care Act gives every American a right to health care through Obamacare. Millions of Americans have benefitted by receiving insurance coverage through the ACA. Many of these people were unemployed or had low-paying jobs. Some could not work because of a disability or family obligations. Others could not get decent health insurance because of a pre-existing medical condition, such as a chronic disease. The ACA has been highly controversial, despite the positive outcomes. Even though, the
Affordable Care Act can increase taxes, Obamacare has provided lower mortality rates and an improved public health for all Americans and no limits on Healthcare. Obamacare was signed into law in 2010, by President Barack Obama. The Act states “the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care,” Obama said at signing). It is commonly known as the Affordable Care Act — and widely nicknamed Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act focuses on expanding insurance to a similar demographic (Nyman 266). The Act will extend insurance to more than 30 million uninsured people, primarily by expanding Medicaid and providing federal subsidies to help lower- and middle-income Americans buy private coverage (Obama n.pg). Medicaid can be described as government insurance for all ages who can not afford insurance.
Expansion of Medicaid is being viewed as a bad thing for patients because they are being denied of health care. Reduced numbers of healthcare providers may overwhelm remaining Medicaid providers or, at the very least, cut patient access to stable, long-term care ( Spaulding 304). Medicaid is a good thing for anyone who has insufficient funds to afford regular healthcare, but this system is becoming broken. Citizens who have Medicaid are being denied everyday, because it is called a burden to deal with for providers. Healthcare providers were so aware of high Medicaid “no show” rates that each clinic had developed policies to cope with the trend (Spaulding 311). Although, many citizens have benefitted from the
ACA. Medicare has benefitted many senior citizens by giving people over the age of 65 federal health insurance. It means that older people and people with disabilities have basic health insurance, and families generally don’t have to worry about paying for their relatives’ healthcare (Generations 68). This beneficial program is promising for most but also can be a struggle for some. On the other hand, when these same people become eligible for Medicare, often they will lose help paying for coverage and may have a reduced benefit package from that which they obtained under the ACA (Generations 69). Even after the introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), uninsured visits remain high, especially in states that opted out of Medicaid expansion (Kamimura et al. n.pg). People still can not get proper treatment due to difficulty obtaining information, lack of instruction to apply, and cost, are major factors influencing intention not to apply for health insurance through the ACA (Kamimura et al. n. pg.). In more ways the positives outweigh the negatives of this system, just give this system time. 16.3% of the 49.9 billion people of the U.S. did not have health insurance until PPACA was passed. No access to healthcare has been shown by increased mortality rates (Palmer). Before the law was passed, citizens were deprived of proper care because of lack of insurance.
Demonte Driver, a 12-year-old homeless child, died Sunday in a District hospital after an infection from a molar spread to his brain. At the time he fell ill, his family’s Medicaid coverage had lapsed. Even on the state plan, his mother said, the children lacked regular dental care and she had great difficulty finding a dentist (Palmer).
Since 2006 the death rate has declined due to Obamacare and the expansion of Medicaid.
Harvard Law performed a study that showed uninsured and mortality rates in 2010 and whether they expanded Medicaid, which will lower the uninsured rate (Vestal). The states that did not expand Medicaid were the states with the increased mortality rate. In 2009 a U.N. index has identified 44 nations as ranking very high in human development. Among these nations the U.S. ranks thirteenth, which may seem surprising (Makdisi 119). The reason for the U.S. ranking is due to our split spending on private sectors and the public, and no other nation expends our per capita amount. The U.S. has a high standard of living because of the healthcare program's set in place to improve the public health. Everyone is given the opportunity to have health insurance in the U.S. Obamacare gives younger adults a chance to stay on their parents insurance longer than most private sectors. Most plans of Obamacare come with free preventive care visits, that would cost the costumer a lot if they did not have Obamcare. Coverage provisions make Obamacare cheaper, because all the free treatments. Sometimes, visiting doctors more often with Obamacare out- of -pocket costs rises, which makes Obamacare more expensive at
times. The government spends roughly around a trillion dollars a year on healthcare. The taxes people will be paying are not cheap, and the taxes will settle down. Before the taxes settle the government had to do a better job of distributing healthcare. There is a bigger tax increase for couples who make over 250,000 and unmarried people making 200,000 a year. The new taxes put into place affect a small minority of the higher class taxpayers. These taxes that are paid affect lower class citizens in a positive way. Many citizens have benefitted from tax credits to pay their premiums. The ACA helps families meet their healthcare needs and important issues are met, which increases services and goods that will make the economy thrive. The ACA helps the American citizens, be healthy without becoming broke. Obamcare gives Americans an opportunity to lower mortality rates, improve the public health, and no limits on healthcare. A decrease in mortality rates is seen as one of many positives the ACA brings. When there is a decrease in number of citizens dying it is because there has been an improvement in the public health. The ACA is so congenial because the program has no limits, so the patient can get any treatment they want.