The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) passage is one of the most remarkable events of Barack Obama’s presidency. The regulation changed how Americans select and use their health insurance. PPACA also helped the impoverished get access to basic healthcare services. The bill enforced Medicaid providence, and today most of my patients can reach out using this program to cut expenses (Goudreau & Smolenski, 2013). PPACA positively affects family care clients because it regulates the coverage for children and adults. Since 2010, patient health conditions improved as uninsured residents decreased by more than half (The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services [HHS], n. d.). It is a major benefit because more people can access trauma and emergency treatment and support chronic conditions more efficiently. PPACA also affects how citizens perceive healthcare services. When the treatment became more affordable on the legislative level, more people decided to use it and get insurance.
PPACA has many benefits for Americans, but massive disadvantages also exist and require attention. For example, coverage is more difficult in family care organizations because it is not equal for every client. Different opinions about why the Act should be changed developed during the last decade. Firstly, the tax penalty system raised arguments against the insurance mandate. These fines were abolished nationwide in 2019, but many states still have inconvenient coverage buying regulations for residents (Jacobs & Mettler, 2018). Secondly, PPACA changed how companies provide employees with healthcare insurance, and many politicians claim these conditions to be ineffective (HHS, n. d.). Lastly, Medicare and Medicaid programs are funded by wealthier taxpayers who pay higher premiums because of the Act’s regulations. The PPACA should be changed to change the situation where the rich people are forced to pay for the impoverished.
I would like to convince you that PPACA is a major benefit for American patients and practitioners. The regulation is a valuable step in national healthcare development for multiple reasons. Firstly, the law allowed millions of people to get insurance coverage and receive high-quality care. Vulnerable groups such as children and low-income citizens got an opportunity to have proper treatment with the Medicaid program (HHS, n. d.). States also developed mandatory coverage regulations to motivate their residents to prioritize health (Heim et al., 2021). It is genuinely beneficial for national health rates for chronic diseases addressing. Secondly, PPACA provided more private insurance and funding options and cut national healthcare costs. Medicare program also optimized the expenses for federal organizations. These conditions prevent healthcare from becoming a massive burden for the national economy.
Moreover, increased accessibility to primary healthcare helps people identify and address diseases in the preventative stages. On the contrary, before the PPACA, individuals who could not afford medical examinations or emergency visits were only reached when the conditions became severe and chronic. The shift towards prevention instead of treatment is cost-efficient and beneficial for patients and healthcare organizations (Goudreau & Smolenski, 2013). Lastly, practitioners today are more in demand due to the increased number of patients who need and can afford high-quality healthcare services. The profession needs to evolve and the practice to improve within the industry.
References
Goudreau, K. A. P. R. A., & Smolenski, M. C. E. M. F. (Eds.). (2013). Health policy and advanced practice nursing: Impact and implications. Springer Publishing Company.
Heim, B. T., Hunter, G., Isen, A., Lurie, I. Z., & Ramnath, S. P. (2021). Income responses to the Affordable Care Act: Evidence from a premium tax credit notch. Journal of Health Economics, 76, 102396. Web.
Jacobs, L. R., & Mettler, S. (2018). When and how new policy creates new politics: Examining the feedback effects of the Affordable Care Act on public opinion. Perspectives on Politics, 16(2), 345-363. Web.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n. d.). The Affordable Care Act. Web.