The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 was created to achieve 3 main tasks. Improving quality/lowering costs, increasing access to healthcare, and protecting consumers are the overarching goals of the act according to the Department of Health and Human Services. To do this the government put a five year timeline in place with key objectives. Even though the act is consistently changing and being debated, the overall goals have stayed relatively constant (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2014). To improve the quality of healthcare while protecting the consumer the government has focused on increasing coverage, promoting preventative measures, and decreasing health care fraud. Increasing coverage is the most publicly known change that
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Despite spending over 18% of the GDP on healthcare (Press, 2013) the US is ranked last among 11 other countries in terms of access, equity, quality, efficiency, and healthy lives according to a recent Commonwealth Fund report (Mahon & Fox, 2014). The countries include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand Norway, Sweden Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (Mahon & Fox, 2014). Overall, we as a nation seem to be spending more than all other major world leaders on our healthcare and yet the quality and effectiveness is still lacking. The goal of the ACA is to slow the increase in healthcare spending while also increasing the healthcare access and quality for the …show more content…
The Supreme Court has already proved that amendments will be necessary to insure equal rights for everyone in this act by ruling against one of its provisions. However, with 24-25 million people expected to access health insurance through the marketplace by 2017 it is unlikely that the act will be repealed altogether (Editorial Board, 2014). The need for universal health coverage is clear but the best method is still to be determined in my opinion. Currently, I think the ACA offers too many chances for people to take advantage of the system. For instance, the Congressional Budget Office recently released its analysis of the act which includes an estimated decrease of working hours. They estimated that an equivalent of 2.5 million full-time employee man hours will be decreased by 2024 as a result of people working less to apply for subsidized plans along with the decrease from employers (Editorial Board, 2014). The validity of this estimation is difficult to judge but the fact is that employment isn’t expected to increase with the ACA in place. Even with the negative aspects, however, the overall goals of the ACA are being met. More people are signing up for health insurance, which means more people will have the option of preventative medicine. Overall, in my opinion amendments will certainly be necessary but the confusing effects of taking away the act after it has been introduced will deter any complete
Despite spending over 18% of the GDP on healthcare (Press, 2013) the US is ranked last among 11 other countries in terms of access, equity, quality, efficiency, and healthy lives according to a recent Commonwealth Fund report (Mahon & Fox, 2014). The countries include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand Norway, Sweden Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (Mahon & Fox, 2014). Overall, we as a nation seem to be spending more than all other major world leaders on our healthcare and yet the quality and effectiveness is still lacking. The goal of the ACA is to slow the increase in healthcare spending while also increasing the healthcare access and quality for the …show more content…
The Supreme Court has already proved that amendments will be necessary to insure equal rights for everyone in this act by ruling against one of its provisions. However, with 24-25 million people expected to access health insurance through the marketplace by 2017 it is unlikely that the act will be repealed altogether (Editorial Board, 2014). The need for universal health coverage is clear but the best method is still to be determined in my opinion. Currently, I think the ACA offers too many chances for people to take advantage of the system. For instance, the Congressional Budget Office recently released its analysis of the act which includes an estimated decrease of working hours. They estimated that an equivalent of 2.5 million full-time employee man hours will be decreased by 2024 as a result of people working less to apply for subsidized plans along with the decrease from employers (Editorial Board, 2014). The validity of this estimation is difficult to judge but the fact is that employment isn’t expected to increase with the ACA in place. Even with the negative aspects, however, the overall goals of the ACA are being met. More people are signing up for health insurance, which means more people will have the option of preventative medicine. Overall, in my opinion amendments will certainly be necessary but the confusing effects of taking away the act after it has been introduced will deter any complete