Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Its Implications to Uninsured Population

Case Assignment
Author’s Name
Institution of Affiliation
Course Name
Instructor’s Name
Date
Case Assignment
The United States has over 330 million people that depend on one of the most complex healthcare systems globally. The healthcare system is developed by interlacing links between payers, providers, and patients attaining care. This system obtains the most funding from the government, but it has a lower life expectancy than other countries. As a result, the federal government has been working hard to derive new acts and enhance the existing ones to foster the current healthcare status. Over the years, several popular public healthcare policies, including Affordable Care Act, have significantly addressed health issues in the country.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) refers to the comprehensive healthcare policy enacted into law by the then United States President Barack Obama in March 2010. Initially, it was known as Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. This law includes several healthcare policies to expand health insurance to numerous Americans. Via a series of extensions of the law and several revisions, numerous laws comprising the federal legal framework for the US health system, ACA defines basic legal security, which is still unavailable. When implemented completely, it would allow millions of individuals in the United States to acquire medical coverage from private insurance and sponsored Medicaid programs from the recently recognized marketplace (Ercia et al., 2021). The policy targeted the uninsured population and surged enrollment in Medicaid.
The act incorporates ten legislative titles. With these titles, it has three major objectives: (1) to change the private insurance market, particularly for people and small-group purchasers, (2) to enlarge Medicaid to the poor workers with approximately 133% income of the federal poverty level, and (3) to reform the process of making decisions (Silvers, 2013). ACA declares that insurance companies should provide comparable policies at equivalent rates to everyone with little variation allowed and avoid excluding the current conditions or eliminating policies. To ensure it works, the law aims to ensure the enrollment of a representative cross-section of individuals to notice the average risk claimed under the new rules.
On the other hand, the policy aims at expanding Medicaid. Notably, the Medicaid population owns the same healthcare needs either covered or in a planned expansion. Expanding Medicaid was integral for the people who were previously uninsured (Silvers, 2013). As more people without insurance coverage obtained medical coverage through Medicaid, workers realized they could acquire little premiums, aiding in lessening benefit costs and giving permission for job expansion. ACA’s third objective was to change how medical decisions were made. These included alternative organizational arrangements, comparative effectiveness research, and compensation for new delivery systems. However, the three objectives relied on private choices instead of government regulations. The act anticipated that people and groups would act within these changes to realize good access to care.
The ACA policy was enacted into law by the federal government led by Barack Obama during its implementation. Until June 2012, numerous healthcare reforms debate was done by the Supreme Court review of whether the policy was legal. The court upheld critical policy provisions followed by President Obama's reelection in November. Obama turned the debate from repealing the law to efficiently implementing it. The debate mainly evolved across the different responsibilities between the federal government and states. The negotiation of engagement of states in the role of ACA policies would define the form the needs finally take.
The targeted population comprised everyone from different ethnic groups, religions, locales, demographic, and gender. Due to express refinement, ACA significantly enhanced people with unstable health insurance and healthcare. The policy banned sex discrimination, meaning insurers would not charge women more than men. Before it was enacted, women were assumed to spend 68% more than men on health issues (Melling, 2020). The law also incorporated essential progress to solve the issues of racial injustice, ensuring all people of all races acquire equal coverage. Furthermore, the law has been critical for people with disabilities protecting against medical coverage limitations due to pre-existing conditions. Moreover, the act further enlarged Medicaid for individuals up to 138% of the federal poverty level, even though not every state presented itself with this choice despite it being literal life-saving chances (Melling, 2020). Therefore, it is evident that the ACA is part of the road to equity, reforming systems of discrimination and oppression.
Before the Affordable Care Act was endorsed, President Obama proposed it. History came to pass what ended up becoming the largest tax cut for middle-class people for healthcare. During the general election, this policy was his campaign's cornerstone. In 2010, the policy provided health insurance that was now accessible for people previously denied medical coverage because of having pre-existing conditions. Adults could continue being covered by their parent's insurance till 26 years old (WNC Health Insurance, n.d). In 2011, the ACA beefed up further protections for people with pre-existing conditions and dismissed the time limits for coverage. 2012 was a busy year for the act involved the establishment of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program and Community Living Assistance and Support (CLASS) to offer basic long-term care such as home assistance.
In 2013, payment bundling whereby the healthcare providers and facilities were paid a flat rate was introduced to make care more efficient. Several states were involved in revising and expanding Medicaid eligibility in 2014 to include people whose earning was equal to 138% of the federal poverty level (WNC Healt...