The Impact of the Affordable Care Act and the Significance of the Law to the Nursing Practice - Essay Example

The Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act Introduction President Obama introduced health reform in the United s through the introduction of the Affordable Care Act. The Obama government recognized that many people lacked health insurance and hence did not have access to quality healthcare. The introduction of the Act has many implications for employers, health insurance companies, as well as state governments. The main objective of the Act was to ensure that Americans are covered adequately under a lower cost giving them access to quality healthcare. The Act places the mandate for every individual to ensure that he or she is covered. Employers face a new compulsion of providing insurance cover for the employees as long as they have employed more than 50 people. The Act also ensures that more people are covered under Medicare and Medicaid. The affordable care Act also introduced new regulations for insurance companies compelling them to revise their policies. Unlike in the past, insurance companies face the compulsion of facing comprehensive healthcare policies for both preventing care and treatment. In addition, insurance companies can no longer place barriers for people with preexisting medical conditions or revoke an individual’s coverage in the event of the person getting sick. The Act exerts a control on the legal profit that insurance companies can get from different policies. This paper will describe the impacts of the affordable Care Act (Obama Care) and the significance of the law to the nursing practice. Without doubt, the Affordable Care Act sought to provide more solutions to the numerous healthcare problems that Americans face. Notably, many Americans did not have a comprehensive health insurance cover while many others were not covered at all. The Act sought to ensure that more people are covered something which is evident today. After the introduction of the Act, more people have gained health insurance cover. Specifically, the elderly and the poor were at a disadvantage because a great percentage of them lacked insurance cover. The Act expanded Medicare and Medicaid in an effort to provide many Americans with insurance cover. As highlighted above, the compulsion placed on employers to provide health insurance coverage to employees as a mandatory requirement for organizations with more than 50 employees has served to increase the number of people who are covered. Insurance companies had been exploiting Americans through expensive premiums, lack of preventive care, and failure to compensate individuals under certain circumstances. In compliance with the requirements of the Act, insurance companies have revised their policies and offer more covers that are comprehensive. According to the law, insurance companies can no longer discriminate the sick or people reporting preexisting medical conditions. Notably, the American government had been registering increased spending in the healthcare sector. Therefore, president Obama introduced new benefits, protections, and rights, as well as the rules for insurance companies in order to limit the government spending towards the healthcare sector. Previously, insurance companies discriminated people, according to gender as well as health status. However, the affordable care Act requires insurance companies to charge the same level of premiums for men and women. The Affordable Care Act expands the coverage of children under their parents until 26 years of age. The expansion is advantageous to young people because their health insurance cover is more expensive. Without doubt, the healthcare reforms under the new Act have established a competitive health insurance marketplace. In this marketplace, more Americans have a chance to access health insurance of fairer terms than what was available previously. In the highly competitive marketplace for health insurance, customers have a right to pursue appeals if they are not well covered. Many Americans have become aware of the available coverage options since the virtual marketplace provides adequate information about the available policies (‘Implications of the Affordable Care Act on Nursing Regulation and Practice’, 2014). The poor and the elderly can access quality healthcare irrespective of their financial or health status. Advantages of the Affordable Care Act Evidently, Obama care provides numerous health benefits that did not exist before. Health insurance plans that comply with the requirements of the law must provide customers with coverage of outpatient services, emergency services, hospital stays, pregnancy and baby care, mental health services, prescription drugs, rehabilitation services, laboratory tests, prevention, and wellness services. Therefore, the health insurance plans are more comprehensive and present customers with a diverse range of benefits. Children also benefit from dental and vision services under the new law. Unlike in the past, when Americans had limited knowledge of the health insurance coverage, they are more informed under the new law. Before the introduction of the law, many Americans were worried that they would run out of cover in case they got sick. However, the new law has eliminated the limits on total annual benefits. Therefore, Americans can be more confident about having access to quality health care (Martin, 2015). Unlike in the past, Americans are enjoying guaranteed acceptance by insurance companies without the preexisting exclusions and discriminations. All the individuals with health insurance coverage are entitled to free preventive care. Americans have more rights that they can defend so as to limit the exploitation carried out by insurance companies previously. Insurance companies register a high level of accountability and reliability than in the past. With the expansion of Medicare and Medicaid, the poor and the elderly are at an advantage and the federal and state governments can adequately cover them. Since the Acts commutes to delivering preventive care, it serves to improve the wellbeing of people and saving lives. The Act also allows states to recruit healthcare workers and funds the expansion of health centers in different communities (Press, 2013). Healthcare professional have to comply with certain regulations and requirements under the new law, a factor that increases transparency in hospitals. Disadvantages of the Affordable Care Act With the new regulations governing insurance companies, many of them have chosen to withdraw from the business limiting the choices left for many Americans. It is unfortunate that over 30 million individuals have to access health insurance on their own. It is not easy for them to access a comprehensive healthcare plan at a cheaper rate because insurance companies have revised policies in compliance with the new regulations. Therefore, many of these individuals getting health insurance covers on their own have to pay more if they are to enjoy all the health care benefits under the new law. In an effort to fund the Obama Care, there is increased taxation in different areas. Some states are likely to withdraw from Medicaid expansion because of the increased spending that will result from the expansion process. Opponents of the law have highlighted that it does not give regard to long-term care (Tate, 2012). Significance of Obama Care to the Nursing Practice The nursing practice has experienced the impact of the Affordable Care Act. Since the Act supports the training of more specialized nurses, some of them will receive sufficient funding in order to advance their education. With the increasing access to healthcare for many Americans, many nurses will get employment opportunities. The law introduces new standards that are likely to affect the professionalism of nurses compelling them to improve customer service. Nurses are also eligible for the health benefits outlined above under the Obama Care Act. The fact that the Act also seeks to fund community projects and initiatives that promote health and wellbeing are of the positive impact on community nursing (Golden & Vail, 2014). Conclusion Evidently, the Affordable Care Act has introduced numerous reforms to the American Healthcare sector. Americans can celebrate the fact that they have access to affordable healthcare coverage unlike in the past. In addition, many Americans now have the relevant information that they can use in the selection of the best insurance cover, the Act promotes preventive care, which serves as evidence that the government is willing to promote the wellbeing of communities. The law has introduced a measure of order in the insurance companies that have to comply with new requirements. Therefore, people have equal chances of accessing health insurance coverage under the new law. References Golden, R. L., & Vail, M. R. (2014). The Implications of the Affordable Care Act for Mental Health Care. Generations, 38(3), 96-103. Implications of the Affordable Care Act on Nursing Regulation and Practice. (2014). Journal of Nursing Regulation, 5(1), 26-34. Martin, E. J. (2015). Healthcare policy legislation and administration: patient protection AND Affordable Care Act of 2010. Journal of Health & Human Services Administration, 37(4), 407-411. Press, Z. (2013). ObamaCare Simplified: A Clear Guide to Making ObamaCare Work for You. Berkeley : Zephyros Press. Tate, N. J. (2012). ObamaCare survival guide. West Palm Beach, FL: Humanix Books. Read More