The Pro's and Con's of Obama Care - Research Paper Example

 Abstract In the US, healthcare system has been criticized for increased cost structure and ineffective insurance coverage. The US President Barack Obama has initiated affordable healthcare plan recognized as Obama Care. The healthcare plan has been effective in providing better quality health services and treatment facilities. The healthcare requirements of the patients are met on the basis of their requirements. With this healthcare plan, individuals and small business owners can acquire health related insurances based on subsidized premium. However, the healthcare plan has been opposed on the ground of racial prejudice. It is also criticized for adding extra taxes, which has increased government spending. Moreover, the other limitation of the healthcare plan is that citizens are required to have health insurance by the year 2014, if not a tax penalty might be imposed on them. In addition, employers are necessitated to contribute not less than the figure of 50% of the health plan premium in order to get advantage of the benefit of tax credit. The employers who do not have adequate tax liability are not eligible to obtain complete current benefit. In this regard, comparing the benefits and the limitations of Obama Care, it can be affirmed that the plan should be continued in the US with aim of providing better quality health insurance plan. Introduction: Obama Care In the United States, the people are provided with different healthcare plans along with policies with the aim of improving health coverage (University of Maine, 2011). The healthcare plans are implemented in order to ensure that the people are facilitated with effective care as well as treatment services. Obama Care has been implemented in the US with the aim of ensuring that people are provided with better health insurance coverage (Fuchs, 2009). The healthcare plan has been implemented as an affordable healthcare policy, which is identified as ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’ (PPACA) (Fuchs, 2009). It has been also identified that the healthcare plan includes new taxes, which have adversely affected the effectiveness of the plan. Additionally, the healthcare plan is also identified to be criticized on different grounds that include legal along with political considerations. On the legal along with political ground, the healthcare plan has been criticized to be based on racial prejudice. In this regard, the healthcare plan has been ineffective in its approach due to improper management of the policies (Fuchs, 2009; Jonas et al., 2007). Healthcare Services in the US Healthcare system is one of the most important sectors in an economy accountable for protecting as well as preserving the health of the people. In the US, healthcare system comprises both public as well as private insurers. The people are provided with different healthcare services that include medicare, medicaid and public health insurance with the aim of ensuring that they are offered with better health coverage as well as treatment services. The healthcare system of the US also consists of advanced medical technology and healthcare facilities, which have aided the system in improving its healthcare services. In this regard, the US healthcare system is identified to be the best healthcare service provider on a global context. The healthcare system of the US is based on treatment as well as diagnosis procedures considerably instead of making effective contribution towards health promotion (Smith et al., 2005). Changes That Are Implemented in Obama Care The healthcare system of the US has been criticized on the ground of increased cost and ineffective access. In this respect, the US president Barack Obama had initiated healthcare plan i.e. Obama Care during the period 2010. The healthcare plan has been implemented in the US with the intention of improving the healthcare system. Additionally, the plan has been initiated to enhance protection and health of the people in an affordable manner. The implementation of the healthcare plan will facilitate the people in having better rights, protection as well as benefits towards treatment and medical facilities (Fuchs, 2009). The research paper emphasizes the benefits as well as limits that are associated with Obama Care. Additionally, discussion and analysis are conducted in order to make judgments about the healthcare plan. The discussion will comprise the benefits provided to the people in relation to care as well as treatment and insurance coverage. On the other hand, the limitations are based on ineffective insurance coverage, added insurance taxes as well as costs and racial prejudice. Benefits and Limitations of Obama Care The US President Barack Obama has implemented healthcare plan i.e. Obama Care, as an affordable care act with the intention of improving health insurance coverage and medical facilities. On the other hand, the healthcare plan has also been debated on various factors which include increased healthcare cost, racial prejudice and ineffective insurance coverage. Benefits of the Healthcare Plan Obama Care has been initiated as an ‘Affordable Care Act’ (ACA) in the US with the aim of offering affordable as well as low cost health and care services to a large number of uninsured people (Smith et al., 2005). According to Smith et al. (2005), the government of the US in order to improve the healthcare policies along with plans has made adequate investments. Consequently, a transformation in the healthcare system has been witnessed on the basis of which better care and treatment services are offered to the patients. Moreover, Smith et al. (2005) noted that the healthcare system of the country is majorly based on improving the treatment as well as the diagnosis services. In this context, marginal efforts were emphasized towards the development along with promotion of the healthcare system amid the US residents. Respectively, Obama Care has been implemented with the aim of promoting the healthcare system effectively (Smith et al., 2005). As stated by Fuchs (2009), the introduction of Obama Care has transformed the healthcare system of the US with better healthcare reforms. President Barack Obama has made different reforms in the healthcare plans with the objective of enhancing healthcare coverage, maintaining spending on healthcare segment and minimizing wastes in relation to inefficient utilization of medical resources. In this regard, the healthcare plan has been initiated on the ground of better coverage, coordinated care services, cost control and insurance policies in accordance with the preferences of the people of the US. Additionally, Fuchs (2009) stated that President Barack Obama has developed and implemented Obama Care with the intention of minimizing governmental spending on healthcare services through waste elimination. Wastes are eliminated in the field of medical resources by adopting measures of minimizing the use of non-beneficial resources in case of misinformation between physicians and patients. The healthcare plan will also assist in reducing wastes, which originate through ineffective care delivery and care coordination. Moreover, there are other factors that include overtreatment, pricing failures, managerial complexities and fraudulent practices that are mitigated in order to minimize spending in the healthcare segments (Fuchs, 2009). In this respect, the government with the facility of improved investment opportunity is able to provide health insurance to an augmented number of uninsured people in the US (Fernandez & Mach, 2013). Accordingly, Fernandez & Mach (2013) noted that better healthcare coverage has aided the people in having affordable care services along with medical benefits. Contextually, the patients covered under the healthcare insurance plan are able to obtain effective protection along with rights in relation to treatment as well as medical services, as offered through ACA. The US residents will also be offered with important health information about the care and the health services that can be acquired. Additionally, the healthcare plan also briefs the healthcare choices that the people can have so that care and treatment services are obtained on the basis of their needs and requirements. According to Fernandez & Mach (2013), the US people with the implementation of Obama Care healthcare plan are facilitated with the opportunity of having better access towards health insurance coverage. Contextually, the healthcare plan will aid the people to obtain health insurance coverage with better efficiency through ACA exchanges. Besides, the development of ACA exchanges has also provided an employment opportunity for people. In ACA exchanges, individuals as well as small business owners are able to obtain health insurances based on subsidized premium. The exchanges also assist people in purchasing health insurances with better assistance on the basis of which low and medium class individuals are able to procure health insurances in a cost effective manner (Fernandez & Mach, 2013). Moreover, Fernandez & Mach (2013) signified that the healthcare plan has aided small businesses to be exempted from penalty if they have 100 full-time employees and are covered under the healthcare plan. The employers are required to ensure that employees are provided with health insurance coverage in accordance with the standards mentioned in the ACA. Subsequently, insurance coverage of the employees should be based on the concept of the healthcare plan which includes facets such as being affordable and adequate. Insurance coverage is ascertained to be affordable in case where the contribution made by an employee is around 9.5% in relation to his/her respective household income in a taxable year. On the other hand, insurance coverage is determined to be adequate, where the actuarial value of the insurance plan is 60% and above, which is based on the total amount of cost expected to be covered by the plan. In this context, employees engaged with small businesses are facilitated with the opportunity of being covered under the ACA (Fernandez & Mach, 2013). According to Marmor et al. (2009), Obama Care has been implemented in accordance with legal procedures and thus the plan has been effective in reach. The plan has assisted the government of the US in providing public as well as private health insurance to the people. The health insurance plan is recognized to be offered on the basis of better regulations, decreased subsidies as well as taxes and with efficient consumer protection reforms among others. In this respect, the healthcare plan is identified to possess different rights, protections as well as benefits. The healthcare plan provides different health benefits that include prescription drugs, emergency care and hospitalization among others (Dvorak, 2013; Marmor et al., 2009). Additionally, Marmor et al. (2009) stated that Obama Care is implemented as an effective medium of controlling healthcare cost and improving health outcomes. The healthcare plan is presented with different reforms that include widespread use of ‘health information technology’ (HIT) and proper supervision of chronic disease. Subsequently, health reforms made in the ACA have assisted in providing better healthcare services with the assistance of innovative health technologies. In this respect, the policies will assist in making effective health decisions in relation to medical care and technologies that are to be adopted with the aim of enhancing medical practices. Subsequently, the healthcare plan will aid in improving health services and preventing chronic diseases (Marmor et al., 2009). According to Fuchs (2009), Obama Care is an effective healthcare plan aiding in the development of healthcare insurance system of the US. The provision of the plan in terms of affordable rate and cost-effective manner has assisted the insurance industry in building a large customer base. The increased customer base will aid the government in generating better subsidies, which will facilitate in developing the healthcare sector. Presently, the government of the US is prone to building the healthcare system based on the concept of cost reduction (Fuchs, 2009). Limitations of the Healthcare Plan In has been identified that the healthcare plan will offer significant benefits to the American citizens in numerous ways and has been able to resolve many of the healthcare challenges experienced by the US healthcare system. However, certain imperative limitations of the healthcare plan has also been identified that would have a negative impact on several grounds including both social and economic. According to Dvorak (2013), a number of physicians of Minnesota, health care leaders and legislators have demonstrated their concerns towards the complex changes initiated by Obama Care. The changes brought by this healthcare plan are considered to increase the complexities associated with the US healthcare system. In this regard, it has been noted that US healthcare system is ridden with numerous problems and is recognized to be dysfunctional for a long time. Despite being one of the wealthy democracies, it has been ascertained that 48 million American citizens are deprived of health coverage while another 29 million Americans are recognized to be under insured with poor coverage which has contributed towards increasing the burden associated with out-of pocket expenses followed by continuously increasing health insurance premiums. The healthcare problems in the US are observed to be firmly associated with inefficient healthcare system. Those individuals who are employed are covered by job based insurance while elderly and disabled Americans are covered under Medicare, and poor and isolated population are covered through Medicaid. Similarly, military veterans are protected under Veterans Administration and American Indians are covered under Indian Health Service. However, there is no provision for those classes of population who do not fall any of the above stated category. Hence, they are required to purchase insurance coverage from private insurance providers which is often very expensive and unobtainable for certain class of population. Correspondingly, Obama Care intends to expand the coverage to 32 million who are currently uninsured. However, Obama Care aims at achieving this goal merely by expanding the current inefficient and fragmented US healthcare system without any major healthcare reforms. Thus, it has been widely propounded that this healthcare plan will not be able to eliminate the problems associated with the current US healthcare system and its implementation is expected to deliver little assistance to the US healthcare system. Responsively, it has been further argued that even after the full implementation of Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obama Care, millions of people will be uninsured while the healthcare cost will continue to increase at a rapid pace. In this regard, it has been observed that Obama Care will not be able to provide universal coverage as it has been estimated that nearly tens of millions of Americans will be deprived of coverage after its complete implementation (Dvorak, 2013). Furthermore, Marmor et al. (2009) noted that spiralling healthcare cost and unemployment will have an adverse influence on the Obama Care which will create extra financial pressure on the federal government. Obama Care has been observed to reduce the employer-based health-insurance thereby leaving millions of people in insurance market that are controlled by government. As a result of this, it has been ascertained that the healthcare plan will contribute towards mounting healthcare cost on the part of government. Correspondingly, Lowry & Gravelle (2014) determined that federal measures to healthcare cost control will lead towards the situation of federal budget deficit. Moreover, it has been ascertained that the continuous federal government spending in order to meet the rising healthcare needs associated with Obama Care will expose US economy with the risk of sovereign debt crisis which will have a long-lasting impact on the US economy as well as on the unemployment aspect followed by the crippling pressure of increasing tax (Lowry & Gravelle, 2014; Cannan, 2013; Marmor et al. 2009). Lowry & Gravelle (2014) and Cannan (2013) identified that individual mandate forms an essential element of Obama Care. It is generally an official part of the shared accountability provisions. It has been observed that the individual mandate pertaining to the healthcare plan will result in the introduction of new taxes mainly directed towards high earners for meeting the funding requirements of insuring the people, which has been perceived to create increasing burden for the high earners. At the same time, Obama Care’s individual mandate requires most of the American citizens to obtain health insurance by 2014 while failing to obtain health insurance is likely to bring about tax penalty. Similarly from the employer mandate point of view, employers are liable to a monthly levied penalty in case they are not able to provide health insurance minimum standards pertaining to “affordability” and “adequacy” set in Obama Care (ACA). Although small business enterprises are exempted from such penalty but it has been ascertained that large business enterprises employing not less than 50 full time employees will have to bear the risk of penalty. Besides, it has been ascertained that employers are required to contribute not less than 50% of the health plan premium in order to avail the benefit of tax credit. Notably, tax credit is subjected to income tax, thus employers having inadequate tax liability are not entitled to receive full current benefit. It has been further observed that the healthcare plan will lead to the higher cost of workers which will ultimately result in firms to shrink output and at the same time the number of workers as well. Besides, tax credit benefit is extremely small and the rules associated with the eligibility towards these benefits have been ascertained to be extremely complex (Lowry & Gravelle, 2014; Cannan, 2013). As per Lowry & Gravelle (2014), individuals having lower income are observed to receive insurance premium credits in the community-rated pools that will contribute towards increasing welfare of the society but it has been perceived that the cost to federal government for financing the coverage of Employee’s State Insurance (ESI) will increase unprecedentedly. In addition, it has been ascertained that a few firms may become reluctant towards meeting the standards of Obama Care instead they may prefer to pay penalty where their employees are paid lower income and the wage cannot be lowered below the minimum wage. It has also been observed that the healthcare plan may have a significant impact on the employment generation by the firms. It is due to the reason that exemption of penalty based on the number of employees may possibly discourage employers to add workers. Besides, other economic impact in the form of limited expansion of firms has been observed. Significant level of misunderstanding between the employers exempted from penalty and the employers liable to pay penalty may arise that may have a considerable negative impact on the overall performance of the national economy. It has been ascertained that some employers may consider this healthcare plan to be ambiguous and discriminative (Lowry & Gravelle, 2014). Nonetheless, Knowles et al. (2010) noted that the healthcare plan is also criticized on the racial ground. Accordingly, it has been identified that the healthcare reform in the form of Obama Care is the product that has been initiated to extend the fundamental rights to those people with less power. It has been argued that the race was one of the reasons behind the initiation of Obama Care. In this regard, it has been ascertained that this healthcare plan will primarily benefit the minority populations residing in the rural areas rather than promoting the welfare of the total healthcare. Consequently, it has been claimed that it will lead towards the increasing discrimination within the country (Knowles et al., 2010). Obama Care Should Be Continued or Withdrawn In the US, healthcare system has been identified to be a key driving force behind the nation’s progression and stability. The US President Barack Obama has implemented Obama Care as an affordable healthcare plan on the basis of which the US people will be offered with low cost health insurance plan. Additionally, the healthcare plan will aid in improving insurance coverage to an augmented number of people. The healthcare plan has aided the government of the US in minimizing spending in the healthcare segment. Contextually, the healthcare plan has been implemented in both private along with public sectors for better increase of coverage area (Dvorak, 2013; Fuchs, 2009; Marmor et al., 2009; Smith et al., 2005). Obama Care plan is based on the different reforms with the assistance of which the plan has aided in eliminating wastages of medical resources. The plan has also led to the development of ACA exchanges for better assistance of people in obtaining health insurance plans, which in turn has facilitated to reorganize the marketplace of health insurance. Moreover, the healthcare plan has facilitated in improving medical services, health outcomes and accessibility (Fernandez & Mach, 2013; Fuchs, 2009). However, the healthcare system of the US has been criticized on the ground of increased cost, ineffective health coverage and access facility. Obama Care has been opposed by politicians on the basis of racial prejudice, as the plan provided ample healthcare opportunity to the people with low as well as medium income. The healthcare system has been ineffective in its coverage, as there are a large number of uninsured people. Moreover, the people are also identified to be covered with inefficient healthcare plan. The implementation of the healthcare plan has also increased cost for extra taxes that include tanning services, which are to be paid for obtaining health insurance plan (Lowry & Gravelle, 2014; Knowles et al., 2010). Besides, the healthcare plan imposes different regulations on the management of small businesses to provide insurance coverage to full-time employees. Non-adherence will lead to employer penalty. In this regard, the management of small businesses is seemed to recruit more part-time employees as compared to full-time employees (Lowry & Gravelle, 2014; Marmor et al. 2009). Subsequently, it can be identified that the healthcare plan i.e. Obama Care possess both positive as well as negative aspects. The effectiveness of the plan is based on different factors that comprise insurance coverage, accessibility and benefits. In this context, the healthcare plan assists in providing insurance coverage to immense number of people with better access facility. Additionally, the people obtaining the health insurances are offered with better treatment as well as medical services. Respectively, it can be comprehended that Obama Care should be continued in the US for better quality and coverage of health insurances. Conclusion: Obama Care Should Be Continued Review of Relevant Points In Relation To Benefits and Limitation of Obama Care The US President Barack Obama implemented the healthcare plan, ‘Affordable Care Act’ also known as Obama Care with the intention of improving the US healthcare system. It has been observed that Obama Care offers numerous benefits to the American citizens. Accordingly, it has been identified that the full implementation of Obama Care will result in reducing wastages arising from inefficient care and coordination. The millions of uninsured American are also observed to have access to affordable insurance coverage. The minority segment residing in rural areas will be secured through Obama Care. Besides, unemployed people will also be protected with the introduction of Obama Care and the continuously spiraling healthcare cost is expected to curb with the implementation of this healthcare plan. Nonetheless, certain limitations have also been associated with the implementation of Obama Care. Subsequently, it has been ascertained that even after its full implementation tens of millions of population will still remain uninsured. It is also observed that this healthcare plan will contribute towards federal financial deficit as a result of increasing healthcare funding requirement to meet the rising demand. Growth of economy as well as unemployment is also projected to suffer unfavorably. Based on the above presented facts, it can be stated that the benefits offered by Obama Care owes more weightage than its limitations thus, Obama Care should be continued. Brief Discussion of Opposing Views and My Views Numerous opposing views towards the continuation of Obama Care can be identified. Correspondingly, opponents of Obama Care have argued that this healthcare plan rests on the inefficient and fragmented base of the US healthcare system. Hence, it will have no major implications on bringing positive transformation. It has been further argued by opponents that this plan is the product of racial bigotry rather than a reform based on healthcare welfare. At the same time, it has been argued that this healthcare will contribute towards increasing tax and will also increase the federal government spending on healthcare that may lead towards financial crisis and sluggish growth of economy. The above presented views although owe certain degree of practicality but the benefits provided by Obama Care cannot be overlooked. The bottom line is that despite certain limitations associated with Obama Care, the benefits delivered by it are numerous. This healthcare plan can be expected to bring parity in the US healthcare system. Also, it can be observed that there is a greater need for healthcare reform in the US in order to curb the rising healthcare spending and meet the growing healthcare demand. Therefore, it can be firmly stated that the continuation of this healthcare plan will facilitate in abridging the prevailing healthcare gap in the US. The research paper aimed at discussing and analyzing the benefits and limitations of Obama Care in order to make judgment regarding whether to continue or not to continue the healthcare plan. Correspondingly, it has been ascertained that Obama care offers numerous benefits while limitations associated with it are partial. Hence, Obama Care should be continued to meet the healthcare demands in the near future. References Make sure that you double check all references below—All sources need to appear in text above and all sources in text above need to appear below --- Good work on APA formatting Cannan, J. (2013). A legislative history of the Affordable Care Act: How legislative procedure shapes legislative history. Law Library Journal, 105(2), 131-173. Dvorak, D. (2013). Beyond Obamacare. Minnesota Medicine, 34-35. Fernandez, B., & Mach, A. L. (2013). Health insurance exchanges under the patient protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Congressional Research Service, 1-41. Fuchs, V. R. (2009). Eliminating “waste” in health care. Journal of American Medical Association, 302(22), 2481-2482. Jonas, S., Goldsteen, R. L., & Goldsteen, K. (2007). An introduction to the U.S. health care system. United States of America: Springer Publishing Company. Knowles, E. D., Lowery, B. S., & Schaumberg, R. L. (2010). Racial prejudice predicts opposition to Obama and his health care reform plan. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 420-423. Lowry, S., & Gravelle, J. G. (2014). The Affordable Care Act and small business: Economic issues. Congressional Research Service, 1-24. Marmor, T., Oberlander, J., & White, J. (2009). The Obama administration’s options for health care cost control: hope versus reality. Annals of Internal Medicine, 150, 485-489. Smith, M., Wertheimer, A. I., & Fincham, J. E. (2005). Pharmacy and the U.S. health care system, third edition. United States of America: CRC Press. University of Maine. (2011). The U.S. Health Care System: Best in the World, or Just the Most Expensive? Retrieved from http://umaine.edu/ble/files/2011/01/US-healthcare-system.pdf Read More