Strengths and Weaknesses of the Current Health Care Act of the United States
MN506M4-4: Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current health care act of the United States.
In this assessment, you will discuss how your state is enacting the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a 3- to 4-page paper, exclusive of cover and reference pages, you will:
Identify at least three components of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are important to APN practice.
Describe why the three components are important to APN practice.
Determine whether your state is or is not implementing the three components.
Describe how the decision to implement or not implement the three components impacts healthcare in your state.
Assessment Requirements:
Before finalizing your work, you should:
be sure to read the assessment description carefully (as displayed above);
consult the Grading Rubric (under the Course Resources) to make sure you have included everything necessary;
utilize spelling and grammar check to minimize errors; and
review APA formatting and citation information found in the Academic Success Center, online, or elsewhere in the course.
Your writing assessment should:
follow the conventions of Standard English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.)
be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful;
display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics; and
use APA 7th edition formatting and citation style.
The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Current Health Care Act of the United States
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The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Current Health Care Act of the United States
Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) came into effect in 2010, many states have gradually implemented the diverse components to improve the healthcare for their citizens. Cleveland et al. (2022) indicate that enacting this law marks a transformative change with the potential to significantly boost the accessibility, affordability, and quality of care due to the requirements outlined covering health insurance coverage, reporting and recording, and care delivery, among other aspects. Its comprehensiveness made it an influential regulation, significantly impacting the practice of diverse healthcare professionals, including advanced practice nurses (APN). Thus, investigating the effect of ACA in Florida is critical to determining the impact on healthcare and nursing practice in the state.
Nurses remain fundamental players whose practice receives direct influence from diverse policy changes. As a result, the rise of ACA influences their interaction with patients and the quality of services they deliver based on the individuals’ insurance coverage and other requirements. In this context, ACA integrates practice-influencing provisions that may limit or boost the quality of nursing care. For instance, Cleveland et al. (2022) highlight three essential elements that ACA sought to transform in the healthcare system: increasing the quality of care, reducing health-related expenses, and boosting access. The law outlines these components through its aims and other provisions. As a result, states implementing ACA ensure their citizens benefit from these components.
These three areas are practice-changing because they progressively influence diverse aspects related to care. For instance, ACA’s demand for refined quality of health has prompted system-wide adjustments in the practice through increased education levels. According to Cleveland et al. (2022), many states now demand nurses to progressively advance their skills through continuous education and training to satisfy this component. The recognition that such educational updates contribute to lower mortality rates further aligns with the aims of ACA in providing distinguished services for all Americans and improving their healthcare outcomes. In this context, Cleveland et al. (2022) acknowledge that the number of nurses with a bachelor’s degree has been growing gradually since 2010, increasing by 5% - 10% nationally. Such developments since the enactments of ACA demonstrate the Act’s impact on the APN practice.
ACA’s emphasis on reducing health-related expenses sought to protect the patients from the diverse screening and care services. For instance, patients with chronic conditions receive numerous pay-for-service procedures that complicate their care through the associated financial burdens. As a result, mandating free preventative screenings for such individuals requires nurses and other healthcare providers to provide fundamental care without demand for payments (Ewing et al., 2019). Such a provision boosts the focus of APNs by ensuring they provide care to all patients without concern about the affordability of the service.
Before the enactment of the ACA, a significant proportion of Americans could not acc...