Health Care Reform (OBAMA) - Essay Example

These two bills were the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) that was signed into law by President Obama on March 23rd, 2010. The second bill was the Health care and Education Reconciliation Act, which was also signed into law by President Obama on March 30th, 2010. There are further reforms intended for the future and have been proposed including a reduction fee for service medical care and single payer system. This paper seeks to discuss the impact of the two-abovementioned legislations on healthcare on doctors, coverage, access, costs, employees and its impact on businesses.

A major characteristic of ObamaCare is that it is primarily targeted at low and middle-income families and businesses. ObamaCare also contains some obstacles for high earners, larger firms that do not insure their employees and certain sectors of the healthcare industry (Carrigan 81). As with any other law, ObamaCare poses a lot of benefits and gains for the average American and little disadvantages. High-income earners might criticize ObamaCare and large corporation for targeting them in what might seem a witch-hunt against corporate America.

However, this is in an effort to cushion the average American who is at disadvantage because of their meagre income and they cannot afford health insurance. As an insured adult with an uninsured 22-year-old child, the new healthcare reforms are an added advantage. This is because it increases access and coverage for healthcare insurance and increased the maximum age for coverage from 22 years to 26 years (Carrigan 77). Through ObamaCare, insured adults with uninsured young adults as dependants will experience extended covers for up to the age of 26 years of age for the dependants (Ciocchetti np).

This will result in an 82% increase in the number of insured adults through the availability and accessibility of low cost insurance and the availability of free healthcare insurance for qualifying adults. This new legislation will see to the introduction of new rights and protection characteristic of guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions and the elimination of gender discrimination in the health care system (Carrigan 80). Despite that fact that medical insurance premiums are set to be higher, the quality of medical insurance will be of guaranteed quality and standard for all registered individuals.

Obamacare will make it possible for millions of people to access affordable and quality medical health insurance through the marketplace (Ciocchetti np). This will be a boost to low income earners who did not have access to health insurance because it was inaccessible. The cost of healthcare will increase because of the widened coverage criteria, which will result in higher premiums for some sections of society. The cost implications of the healthcare reform will not affect me because I belong to the category being shielded by the legislation.

This will be through increased coverage and access. ObamaCare is bound to have different impacts on employees and employers, with some benefiting more than others. Their employers guarantee them a mandatory coverage over the period of tenure as employees of any firm. Small and medium scale enterprises and businesses will get tax credits for up to 50% of their employees’ health care insurance premium costs (Carrigan 78). This will translate to better working conditions and