Affordable Care Act: Impact, Challenges, and the Future of U.S. Health Policy
Introduction
In recent years, the current health policy surrounding the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, has been a hotly disputed subject. President Obama introduced the Affordable Care Act into law to expand the percentage of Americans who have health insurance and lower the total cost of healthcare (HealthCare, n.d.). The strategy has been the source of much debate, with some claiming that it effectively met its objectives and others claiming it was a failure.
Despite the turmoil, the Affordable Care Act remains, and its future is unknown as politicians argue its benefits and flaws. The Affordable Care Act, in my opinion, has been a start in the right direction toward providing care to all Americans. At the same time, many concerns still need to be handled, such as growing healthcare costs and a lack of availability.
The Affordable Care Act
As such, the Affordable Care Act was an advance in a positive trend since it offered health insurance to millions of Americans who might not have gotten it otherwise. According to Buchmueller and Levy (2020), extending the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act has resulted in better health outcomes for low-income people. Another study by Andrews et al. (2019) discovered that the Affordable Care Act reduced the number of Americans without insurance. These findings underscore the necessity for the Affordable Care Act to be expanded further to give all Americans full health insurance.
However, other concerns must be addressed. One of the most serious challenges is the growing expense of healthcare (Andrews et al., 2019). Furthermore, many people continue to lack healthcare opportunities due to variables such as geography, money, and immigrant status (Buchmueller & Levy, 2020). Based on my studies, I predict that the next policy attempt will focus on broadening the scope of the Affordable Care Act to provide further protection to all Americans. This might include mental health treatments, prescription medication coverage, and proactive medical services.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while the Affordable Care Act has significantly improved healthcare delivery to all Americans, more work remains. Expanding the scope of the Affordable Care Act to include a broader range of healthcare services for all Americans is one conceivable legislative move that might build on its success. This might include increasing coverage for mental health services, medicines with prescriptions, and other critical therapies not currently covered by the Affordable Care Act.
References
Andrews, C. M., Pollack, H. A., Abraham, A. J., Grogan, C. M., Bersamira, C. S., D’Aunno, T., & Friedmann, P. D. (2019). Medicaid coverage in substance use disorder treatment after the Affordable Care Act. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 102, 1–7. Web.
Buchmueller, T. C., & Levy, H. (2020). The ACA’s impact on racial and ethnic disparities in health insurance coverage and access to care. Health Affairs, 39(3), 395–402. Web.
HealthCare. (n.d.). The Affordable Care act, health care law. Web.