Policy Brief in the US - Case Study Example

HEALTH CARE REFORM POLICY BRIEF ON THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (ACA) Word count: 1942 Policy Brief The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 has regenerated the debates of health care reforms across the United States to its several alternatives and the different ways this could be done. Key elements of the law have started to take effect and the number of uninsured individuals in the country has dropped since the passing of the law. However, contrary opinions have been generated to the success and implementation of the law relying on different accounts from the media, government releases, private sector surveys and commentary from health care scholars. This policy brief examines the different aspects of the law and recommends several adjustments to it and their perceived benefits to the American population at large1. The push for an increased involvement of the government in Health care administration in the US started as early as 1912 when the then presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt called for an establishment of a national health insurance system for the American population. Health care reforms have from then dominated the country’s political environment and have evolved to become both a scientific, social and an economic issue2. The various decisions that have been taken both by the current Obama administration and other corporations have affected many aspects of the economy. This has included the wages and the living standards of the populace, the economic growth rate of the country and its budgetary allocations. Strategies towards improving the healthcare systems in the country have taken a center stage and have become one of the major challenges facing the government to tackle and accomplish. The health care sector of the economy has been one of the major segments receiving high-end funding from the country’s coffers. As a result, the sector is characterized by individual spending than any other variable3. The stakes have been very high, both economically and socially, in the health care issue as the public interest has continued to increase in it. With this, the various responsible bodies have continued to put in place different measures to satisfy what the citizenry needs. The health care systems have had numerous benefits and despite the challenges it faces, these should not be eroded4. Over the years, a lot of administrations have given different views and acted on the health care reforms with various intensities. These healthcare issues have over time revolved around increasing coverage, insurance reforms, decreasing the overall cost and the social burden of healthcare. In addition, these issues also include improvements in the philosophy of its provision; its funding, and the government involvement5. The current US administration has embarked on efforts to make health care more affordable and broadened to reach a larger population of the citizens. This is in reference to the newly passed health reforms act, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) which has had far reaching implications more than any other health reform strategy for individuals, privately owned companies, and the government’s involvement in healthcare matters. In 2008 while campaigning on platform of change, president Obama promised to bring about sweeping health-care reforms for the estimated 47 million Americans who had not been able to afford health insurance6. This would have constituted a federally administered, government-run health care system. After having successfully amending the initial drafts of the bill, it managed to get passed in the House of Representatives, despite opposition from a significant majority of the American people, and signed into law on the 23rd of March in 20107. Through this legislation, the health state department has made it possible for the uninsured and self-employed to acquire insurance policies via state-based exchanges and subsidies provided to families and individuals with lower earnings. It has expanded Medicaid and added beneficiaries to its rolls including childless adults to the age of twenty-six. These comprehensive health care reforms have gone up to banning policies with lifetime and annual limits on health-care services, not permitting insurance companies into rejection of any application based on pre-existing medical conditions8. Another provision of the same legislation is the requirement by insurers to charge both the healthy the same premiums as to those who hadn’t bought the policies until they became sick.9 This policy has improved to a greater extent the welfare of the citizens, integrating a lot of issues involving health care provision. One of its major objectives has been to fix the disfranchised small groups and non-group insurance markets enabling small businesses and those not insured in their areas of workplaces to get health insurance10. It has brought affordable insurance prices and made them less variable, making it accessible to people who weren’t able to access it before. Its approaches have aimed at reforming the insurance markets11. That is; introduction of new rules preventing insurers from denying any form of coverage or raising premiums based on preexisting conditions, making it a requirements for everyone to buy insurance, and provision of subsidies to make it affordable12. A lot of healthcare challenges have been tackled by this policy through various means including: Aligning the various provided incentives with the equivalent value of the healthcare provided. Increasing accessibility to healthcare cover. Establishing various mechanisms for improving the healthcare service delivery system over the short and the long-term. Focusing on quality and value, ensuring that the health care provided to citizens is of good quality This policy with its numerous perceived good intentions has had its share of criticism and pitfalls. A lot of organizations and policy drivers have felt that some of its provision would discourage more people from buying insurance covers, waiting to fall sick to buy it in the new non-group exchanges. Additionally, the requirement for people to purchase insurance could also act to discourage more people from getting insurance covers when they are still healthy. All these, as has been argued, could result in an increase in the amount of average premiums, in the long run13. Possible adjustments to the policy and their derived strengths The state health department should look into a number of these drawbacks and possibly change its course for the implementation and operation of the law to achieve maximum effects14. The reforms, in particular, have been capped with a lot of inefficiencies, something that has led to additional expenditures on the government’s budget. Accompanying this are the high administrative costs experienced and insufficient focus on disease prevention15. The health reforms will be economically viable and comprehensive if a number of policy decisions are taken and adhered to. The Federal Government can do this by slowing the health care cost growth and expanding its coverage. These two steps would have a lot of impacts in the economic circles and would help improving the standards of living, both for the insured and the uninsured citizens16. Slowing of the health care cost growth would have some of these effects to the economy; It would be critical in uplifting the standards of living of the populace by improving the levels of efficiency. When the growth rate of health care costs is slowed by increasing efficiency standards of the health care system, the standards of living are raised. This is made possible when the resources saved are used in producing other goods and services, desirable to the economy17. It would help in preventing unnecessary budgetary consequences and in raising the total national savings. Slowing the growth rates of the health care costs would cause the deficits in the government’s budget to be lowered considering that the government spends a lot of its resources in this sector. This would further result in higher national savings that would increase capital formation in the country18. It would also help in lowering the unemployment rates and raising employment both in the short and the long terms. When the rates of growth of the health care costs are made to rise slowly, the economy can operate at lower unemployment levels fastening the inflation rates19. Other benefits that would be accrued by expanding the coverage of the health reforms in the country would include; Increasing the living standards and the economic well-being of those who are not insured by costs lower than that of insuring them. Benefits derived by those not insured including having longer life expectancy, a reduction in their financial risk would result in greater gains in raising their financial well-being20. Labor supply in the different economic sectors will be increased. When the insurance coverage is increased, and health care improved, there would be an increase in the supply of labor. This would be made possible through the reduction of disabilities and absenteeism in the respective places of work. This would have a greater impact on the country’s overall GDP and budget deficit reduction21. This expansion in coverage would help in improving the functioning of the labor market. Introduction of such a health care system with coverage expansion that does away with limitations on pre-existing conditions would enable an improvement in the efficiency of the labor markets. This would be doing away with the fundamental limitation on the switching of jobs. An insurance market that would be able to prevent an inefficient labor allocation in the market for both small and big firms should be put in place. Such an insurance system should be well functioning and one that can level the playing fields for all firms to compete fairly in the labor market, irrespective of its size22. A lot of inquiries have been brought forward in the implementations of some of the provisions of these reform policies key among which have to be addressed to achieve their intentions. In dealing with people with pre-existing conditions, the federal government through its state health department should seek other alternatives that would not bear more on others. By compelling the insurance companies to accept all applicants and mandating the conditions that must be covered could be assisting some people obtain coverage, but the resulting increases in premium excluding others. Instead, a more satisfying approach should be thought out to incorporate everyone, promoting high deductible policies, affordable and more attractive to the rich while governments’ help being offered to those people who need insurance coverage for costly situations23. Other incorporations to the health care reform could include among others; 1. Improved focus on quality and value; the policy should make it an integral part of ensuring quality and value on its health care provisions, and all the relevant stakeholders should undertake this24. 2. Increase patient engagement. The government in its efforts to provide healthcare to a majority of the citizens should also focus on improving the patient health literacy and his/her involvement in decisions involving their healthcare. Patient’s preferences should be critical in cost control discussions and deliberations. 3. Increasing emphasis on prevention; the government should also embark with greater concerns about the available prevention programs. This would be through devoting more resources to encourage and propel research on these fronts. These could also help in the reduction of the various treatment costs. 4. Scaling of programs; the numerous efforts and breakthroughs that have been developed in different parts of the country should be spread and scaled across the country to help reduce other costs. Conclusion Most of these healthcare reforms need careful deliberations and goodwill from all the stakeholders involved. This would require genuine cooperation from a range of policy makers, insurers, providers and the general public. In coming up with these policies to reform the health-care system however, the stakeholders must care to maintain the spirit of innovation that has been its benchmark. 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Hall, M.A. “Rethinking Safety-Net Access for the Uninsured,” The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 364, January 6, 2011, pp. 7-9.25 Hoffman, Beatrix Rebecca. 2012. Health care for some: rights and rationing in the United States since 1930. Kronenfeld, Jennie J. 1997. The changing federal role in US health care policy. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Praeger. Kronenfeld, Jennie Jacobs, and Michael R. Kronenfeld. 2004. Healthcare reform in America: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. McCarthy, Robert L., and Kenneth W. Schafermeyer. 2007. Introduction to health care delivery: a primer for pharmacists. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett. Summer, Laura. April 2011. "The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Safety Net." www.academyhealth.org 3-5. http://www.academyhealth.org/files/FileDownloads/AHPolicybrief_Safetynet.pdf Read More