Implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Essay Example

Failure to comply leads to penalties even though the law does not stipulate when such penalties should be paid. The penalties also apply to cases of full-time employees only. The amount of cover may also vary across industries and penalties for non-compliance are lower than cover costs. The policy, therefore, has the strength of establishing minimum requirements for employer coverage but it lacks strong mechanisms for enforcement. It is however likely to promote employer coverage because of the legal environment and employers’ need for a positive image (Wojcik, 2013).

Managed care: Managed care: A structured approach
The authors define managed care as a set of initiatives for organizing, managing, implementing, and evaluating care that targets a specific group. The care approach eliminates duplication of care initiatives and reduces the cost of care. In addition, managed care focuses needs to ensure the delivery of appropriate services at the right time. Changes in the legal and technological environment have however complicated the scope of care and led to the development of managed care model. The model identifies possible interactions between factors to care provision and advocates for management so that all factors to care to support each other.

In addition, the model focuses on the patient and incorporates all stakeholders and environmental factors, and their potential influences on care delivery. The managed care and the model have the strength of focusing on the patients for efficient and effective care but face the challenge of complexity because of the numerous involved factors. It however offers an opportunity for improved care (Linsley and Morton, 2014). Read More