Public and Government Healthcare in America - Research Paper Example

7). There were flaws to the system which President Obama and his healthcare program were trying to correct through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which became a law in March 23, 2010. The bill sought to provide inexpensive, but good quality health care for all the citizens of the United States. It is not only the costs of drugs and hospitalization; the entire healthcare system is being questioned. This was demonstrated in a 2007 National Health Interview Survey showing that 43 million Americans did not have an insurance coverage (Adams et al.

as cited in Benson et al., 2011, p. 28). A report by Families USA (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as cited in Benson et al., 2011) stated that most citizens below 65 had an insufficient health insurance during the period of 2007-2008. The road to a perfect healthcare system for the Obama administration and the American people is still a long way. There are many problems and challenges along the way, one of which is that most Americans with the insurance coverage are fearful of changing the questioned healthcare infrastructure.

Why are Americans afraid of change? Change is a matter of acceptance with courage; courage is significant for accepting an improvement. Americans are afraid of changing the healthcare infrastructure for many reasons which will be discussed in this essay. The unique U.S. healthcare system allows the private sector to help the public sector or the government with providing health care. It is this kind of the system that allowed the private sector, particularly the insurance companies, to commit abuses and malpractices with ordinary citizens as the victim.

It is also through this system that the Obama administration wants to incorporate changes and provide an avenue of perfect health for the American people. The healthcare system is a complicated topic involving political, cultural, and moral aspects where change could not be easily implemented as it involves many areas. Politicians could not reach a point, while all the classes of society could not agree on the kind of change they wanted. In his first address to Congress, President Obama identified healthcare as a primary focus that required an appropriate funding regardless of the existing recession in 2009 (Obama as cited in Benson et al., 2011, p. 28).

Historical Development and Current State of Health Care Delivery Before the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, also known as the ObamaCare), there were several challenges, or problems, the government and the American people had to face. The PPACA was challenged by 26 state governments, but the controversy was resolved by the Supreme Court ruling in June 2012, which upheld the provision of the law that every American should have a health insurance or pay a fine. This individual mandate was a significant part of the ObamaCare, and, so, the Supreme Court ruling was a big boost and support for the law.

Had the court ruled otherwise, the entire Affordable Care Act would have fallen (Tate, 2012, p. 4). The U.S. healthcare system allows a combination of private and public insurance agencies to provide healthcare insurance to American citizens. Many insurances of this kind were sponsored by their respective employers. Before the passage of the Affordable