Analysis of the Affordable Care Act - Essay Example

Affordable Care Act PowerPoint Links http prezi.com/otq1sdl_oovr/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy https www.sendspace.com/file/997e86Affordable Care ActAffordable Care Act consists of different measures to provide an overview of the healthcare costs for all citizens. The Act passed through various objections in the two houses. The Senate was in favor of an individual mandate coupled with private insurance to provide a cover for the universal healthcare provisions. Concepts of universal healthcare dated back to 1989 (Barr, 2011).

Republican and Conservative economists supported it then. Bill Clinton came up with a new way of dealing with the healthcare crisis in 1993 where employers would buy insurance on behalf of employees. Republicans, on the other hand, provided an alternative where employees would buy instead of employers. A stalemate arose and the bill did not pass. Obama introduced the bill again in 2009 and it stipulated a plan that would achieve the needed healthcare plan for the sake of meeting the main ideals of the organization.

Universal care was one of the stated goals to assist in pushing the bill into an Act through the two houses (Barr, 2011). Opposition to the bill was overwhelming from Republicans and protests were initiated to fight against its discussion. Voting, however, made the Democrats win by 60-39 vote thereby ending the debate on the bill in December 2009 (McDonough, 2011). Nonetheless, President Obama signed it into an Act on March 2010. Many termed it as the best overhaul of the healthcare system after Medicaid and Medicare (Jacobs & Skocpol, 2010).

More people were insured and subsidies lowered costs by 76% for citizens who qualified for subsidies. Insurance companies now had more clients to cater for, but the law was on guard to protect them. More were eligible to Medicaid. The Act reduced the number of uninsured by 32 million, and only 23 million would be uninsured after 2019 (McDonough, 2011). Implementation process was expensive as more people would have to get into the system and the taxpayers had to give more to meet these expenses.

Complications also arose as a result of the individual mandate when it comes to the filing of taxes because of the exemption fee offered to those who can afford health coverage (Jacobs & Skocpol, 2010). Options are man but the pricing will differ amongst private companies, and that makes it difficult to equate healthcare everywhere. The tiered healthcare system would only equate healthcare to money, which is damning for the poor. Medicare payments are more for doctors than other payments, making healthcare costlier for the poor (Feldman, 2011).

Partisan disagreements in the Congress have made it more difficult to make any repeal to the Act or even adjust the act to fit the citizens. Support is needed to make this a process for all. It should be worked on by all parties as a way of meeting the main needs of the society at all levels of the debate (Brill, 2015). This will increase the coverage and encourage more people to get insurance. However, the economic shutdown that could result from the budget deficits and high borrowing noted to finance the Affordable Care Act provisions needs to be averted to ensure healthcare is present for all.

It should also be easy to access and affordable to all people.ReferencesBarr, D. A. (2011). Introduction to U.S. health policy: the organization, financing, and delivery of health care in America. JHU Press.Brill, S. (2015). Americas bitter pill: money, politics, back-room deals, and the fight to fix our broken healthcare system. Random HouseFeldman, A. M. (2011). Understanding health care reform: bridging the gap between myth and reality. CRC Press.Jacobs, L. R., & Skocpol, T. (2010). Health care reform and American politics. Oxford U.P.

McDonough , J.E. (2011). Inside national health reform. University of California Press.