The Needs of the Vulnerable Populations in the US - Research Paper Example

The health care sector has come up with several acts to ensure that health care is affordable and accessible to all despite the hindrances mentioned. One such act is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or as popularly referred to as, Obama Care or the health reform.
This act was signed into law in an effort to reform the health care industry by President Barack Obama, on the 23rd of March, 2010 and was later upheld by the Supreme Court in June 2012 (Emanuel, 2014). The primary objective of this Act is to give Americans especially vulnerable groups access to affordable and quality health care insurance as well as reduce the growth in American health care spending, Emanuel further says. The Act enhances the affordability, availability and quality of public and private health insurance via consumer protections, insurance exchanges, taxes, subsidies, regulations and other reforms. The Act does not replace private insurance Medicaid or Medicare but rather regulates health insurance and some of the notorious practices of the for-profit health care industry (Edelman & Kudzma, 2014).

Compare and contrast the effects the health care policy has had on a select population (Low-income Earners)
Scholars posit that low-income earners in America are likely to enjoy many advantages of the Affordable Health Care Act as compared to disadvantages. First, the Act expands Medicaid eligibility which is especially an advantage for those lacking insurance. More people in this vulnerable group will now be eligible for health Insurance which they would have otherwise not been allowed due to their financial status (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). Almost four million uninsured poor adults now fall under the coverage gap which means that their income is now above Medicaid eligibility but still under the lower limit for eligibility for marketplace tax credits (Emanuel, 2014). This exposes many Americans to quality affordable health care, covering over fifteen million previously uninsured adults and their families who live below the poverty line (Emanuel, 2014).

However, it is a nightmare for low-income earners who live in some states which have been allowed to opt out of the Act for the poorest. According to Jacobs & Skocpol, 2012, this comes in spite of the federal funding for the first year and thereafter 90%. This is likely to leave over five million people without insurance. Opting out of this act for some states has been argued as a political move rather than an effort to save money for such states (Jacobs & Skocpol, 2012) the two scholars further cite that has been argued as a step to opposing and breaking Obama Care. As such, poor people continue to suffer due to a lack of accessible health care due to politics.