Health Care Reform - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... The subsidies are provided to families with an income level as explained above, because such families do not qualify for either Medicare or Medicaid. Furthermore, such families do not have coverage from their employers. Premium credits were also introduced to help with payment of coverage, which also touches immigrants who are in the country legally if their income is below 100 percent of the federal poverty level (Jackson & Nolen, 2010). Health Care Reform: U.S. Population Groups That Will Not Benefit The act states that immigrants who are in the country illegally do not qualify for either Medicaid or subsidies on insurance. Most of the illegal immigrants who do not qualify have not been in the country for more than five years as required by the law so that they receive either one of the new reform provision: Medicaid or subsidies on insurance. Population groups who do not register for Medicaid and are above 33 percent of the poverty line do not qualify because they have not joined other people who have registered for Medicaid. Others may decide not to pay for insurance because they think that it is expensive for them, and for that reason they would not qualify. In addition, the insurance cover might cost more than 8 percent of the household, which will be quite unaffordable (Turnbull, 2010). Involvement of DHHS Agencies in Health Care Reform The AHRQ’s functions are to prioritize patients’ safety so that the health conditions of the patient is improved, which is done with help of the DHHS. The current reforms passed in 2010 consider the patients’ safety in workplaces so that small injuries can be averted and better relationships can be achieved between physicians and patients. Additionally, liability premium reductions have been considered in the reforms. The above initiatives were started with the help of both the DHHS and ARHQ. The CMS is concerned with Medicaid, Medicare and children health care insurance. The new reforms aim to accomplish three major goals: expanding insurance cover, providing better quality insurance, and managing cost. The CMS agency will help in controlling the cost of services provided in healthcare centers; for example, there are risks that occur in workplaces, such as injuries and hospital-acquired conditions that require medical cover. The CMS has been pushing for reduction of such incidents to cut down on costs as required by the new reforms. In addition, they have also been in talk with physicians and hospital workers to give a better quality and cheaper service to patients. This will bring down health care costs, and the physicians will benefit from Medicare savings (Groszkruger, 2011). Nursing Implications in Health Care Reform The healthcare reforms to take effect in 2014 will require more nurses because the field will expand and job openings in nursing will arise. For example, more medical healthcare homes and healthcare centers will be formed. The enactment of the law will need more schools and training of nurses. In addition, the individuals who are interested in the profession will require full-time education. This will prompt the government to invest more in training of more nurses to curb the shortage. The national government will aim to provide grants and loans to nurses and will have to increase the amount they use to sustain the training systems that nurses require. As mentioned above, nurses will require full ...Download file to see next pagesRead More