The Affordable Care Act and the Single-Payer Plan

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the comprehensive medical reform legislation enacted in March 2010. This law was to enable the provision of cheaper health insurance for more people. In particular, (About the Affordable Care Act, n.d.). However, it has not lived up to its promise because the cost has not been reduced for everyone. Thus, those who do not qualify for subsidies are still unable to afford insurance (The Affordable Care Act, n.d.). Therefore, replacing ACA with a Single Payer Plan for three reasons, will ensure that the use of services increases because individuals whose incomes are below the federal poverty level to facilitate the delivery of low-cost healthcare of lower out-of-pocket costs and more people insured. Secondly, this approach implies that the government will be the single financier of health care for the whole population (Blumberg & Holahan, 2019). Lastly, the system will reduce individual’s dependence on the expensive. Single Pay Plan benefits patients by lowering-out-of-pocket costs, increase medical cover for all, and eliminate expensive health insurance.

Low-Out-of-Pocket Costs

The Single-Payer Plan is essentially a type of universal healthcare system in which the government provides the costs of essential medical services for all its citizens, with the benefits mostly passed to the poorest and vulnerable households when they need it. This program could improve individual’s disposable income and thereby increase their savings and non-health consumption (Nelson, 2022). In addition, the average private consumption of services not related to medication per capita would rise by about 11.5 percent by 2030 (Nelson, 2022). Further, it has the potential to improve the economic productivity of the citizens and increase the size of the labor force.

Medical Cover for All

In its purest form, a single-payer approach implies one financer of health care for the population. In this case, the government, which has the obligation and the duty to provide services to people after collecting taxes from them, must claim ownership of the risks involved and deliver healthcare. The current care system under ACA is a multipayer program involving government-run plans, enrollee premiums, and private insurance options, and it has failed to cover all Americans, specifically the poorest households. Therefore, a single-payer system will increase access to services, particularly for those with low or modest incomes (Blumberg & Holahan, 2019). Additionally, it will eliminate premiums paid by individuals and remove the financial burdens of those with serious health challenges.

Eliminating the Expensive Private Insurances

The cost of healthcare in America is too high and has depressed individual spending power for decades. Administrative costs for medication arising from multiple systems such as separate rules, funding, enrolment dates, out-of-pocket costs for employer-based insurance, and private insurance drives the service prices (Investopedia Team, 2022). In addition, health insurance in the United States is profit-centered, and so institutions and individuals must pay for themselves despite the subsidies given by employers (Hohman, 2021). This, coupled with less government regulation, leaves the masses at the mercy of expensive health insurers. A single health insurance financial entity implemented by the federal government through the use of its collected revenue can cushion the poorest and vulnerable citizens.

The ACA has not helped to lower the cost of medicine because those who do not qualify for subsidies are still unable to afford insurance. Therefore, a need for a single-payer system by the federal government that will improve individual non-medical consumption is necessary. Additionally, the system removes the financial burdens from those with serious health problems and cushions the poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

References

About the Affordable Care Act. (n.d.). HHS.gov. Web.

Blumberg, L. J, & Holahan, J. (2019). The pros and cons of single-player health plans. Urban Institute. Web.

Hohman, M. (2020). Why is health care so expensive in the United States? Today. Web.

Investopedia Team. (2022). 6 reasons healthcare is so expensive in the U.S. Investopedia. Web.

Nelson, J. (2022). Economic effects of five illustrative single-payer Health Care Systems: Working Paper 2022-02. Congress Budget Office. Web.

The Affordable Care Act in Depth. (n.d.). Rand Corporation. Web.