Affordable Care Act Essay Example

Best Facets and Opinions

Introducing subsidies. According to Watson (2011), the introduction of subsidies makes health insurance purchase affordable for the ones who qualify. Besides, the 80-20 rule implementation mentions that 80 percent of the premium is used on healthcare and the rest on administrative costs. It is opined that subsidies will moderate the rise of healthcare costs.

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Preventive care. All insurance plans are bound to give ten primary health benefits that include wellness visits and free prevention. No coinsurance and deductible (Eibner & Saltzman, 2014). Preventive care will be instrumental in reducing the instances where patients end up in the emergency rooms due to the lack of essential care.

Pre-existing denials or surprise cancellations. The insurer is not in a position to cancel an individual's policy due to an error made on an application. They can also not refute covering a pre-existing condition (Watson, 2011). This facet is beneficial to individuals that are likely to unknowingly make errors during the application process since they will no longer be victims of rescission. Consequently, more people will be able to receive affordable care.

Worst Facets and Opinions

No decrease in cost. Most people who had plans that were not compliant with the ACA had to buy other programs that had extra benefits. The impact is that the cost increases due to additional services. The plan may also have services that may not be of help to the subscriber (Watson, 2011). This facet defeats the sole purpose of ACA which is to make healthcare more affordable. If people have to buy other benefits, it means that the cost of healthcare remains high.

Tax penalties. Tax penalties are imposed on people who are uninsured. The penalties are transferred to one's yearly filing of tax (Amadeo, 2015). It would possibly make more sense if the choice to be insured or not was an individual decision. Imposing tax penalties comes across as a scheme to benefit insurance companies at the expense of ordinary citizens who should be allowed the option of opting out if they so wish.

Shrinking networks. Most of the insurance firms reduced their systems to comply with the ACA requirements by cutting costs. The move leaves consumers with slim options to choose as there are only 'in networks' (Amadeo, 2015). Narrow networks insurance predisposes subscribers to look for services out-of-network if their subscription is not provided for by their insurance. Eventually, people may still be forced to part with exorbitant amounts before accessing healthcare services.

References

Amadeo, K. (2015). The Ultimate Obamacare Handbook (2015edition): A Definitive Guide to the Benefits, Rights, Responsibilities, and Potential Pitfalls of the Affordable Care Act. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. - Medical - 240 pages

Eibner, C., & Saltzman, E. (2014). Assessing alternative modifications to the Affordable Care Act: impact on individual market premiums and insurance coverage. Rand Corporation.

Watson, C. (2011). CCH's Law, Explanation and Analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Aorn Journal, 94(1), 112-113.