The Affordable Care Act ("Obama Care") - Essay Sample

Since the administration of President Teddy Roosevelt, there had been a growing concern for health reforms and the provision of universal healthcare to the US citizens. The signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010 was meant to expand access to medical care across the United States (Kocher et al. 536). Many professionals in the healthcare sector within the United States described the initiative as a significant change in the healthcare system within the United States. The main objectives of the Affordable Care Act included increasing the healthcare coverage rate for all the Americans and subsequent reduction in the overall healthcare costs. With the aim of combating any market failure emanating from an adverse selection within a partially voluntary healthcare insurance system, Obama care provided various mechanisms such as subsidies, mandates, and tax credits to insurers, among others.

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The Obama Care had several provisions that were to take effect over many years beginning in 2010. One of the vital provisions of the ACA was that the insurance companies within the county were required to offer preventive services for free beginning from 23rd September 2010 (Kocher et al. 537). As such, the act was to meet the set objectives by lowering the rates of the uninsured people through some conscious expansion of both the private and the public avenues of obtaining insurance. Through the increased insurance coverage to most people within the United States, this act aimed to reduce the number of individuals that would remain uninsured.

Furthermore, the act was aimed at increasing medical coverage through the use of several mechanisms, such as insurance exchanges and mandates. The Obama Care was also more accommodative to individuals who had not previously qualified for an award of insurance cover. It was also aimed at reduction of the cost of medical provision while at the same time enhancing the quality of healthcare service provision through the enactment and enforcement of various regulations, offering several incentives and increasing the level of competition while streamlining the sector of insurance.

Again, Obamacare also had the aim of eradicating or significantly reducing the various budget deficits that the federal government was facing at the moment while at the same time reducing the government expenditure on health care service provision. Even though the law has formed the target for several opinions from small business groups and state governments, it has had a vital influence on United States Healthcare sector.

It is important to note that before enacting the ACA, the US government was facing several pertinent issues. However, the government had reiterated the need for collective responsibility in dealing with the healthcare challenges at the time (Blumenthal et al. 2452). As such, the act formed the avenue in which the government came up with mechanisms for tackling the healthcare issues within the nation. The first concern that the act was to address is the inadequate surgery options for individuals that suffered from terminal illnesses such as cancer.

Before Obamacare, the initial healthcare policies disadvantaged the poor people within the society to the extent that they could not have surgical options that were accessed by the rich due to inadequate insurance cover. As such, only the individuals with insurance cover were allowed to have the surgery option. Therefore, the inadequacy within the healthcare system was the foundational reason for the willingness of unwitty people to break the law.

The other concern that Obamacare was to sort out was the inability of many US citizens to afford health care services. For instance, according to the US poverty indicators, more than 15% of the entire population is living in poverty. Concisely, this implies that about some 15% of the US citizens earn between $11000-23000 (Blumenthal et al. 2451). Individuals with such an earning are unable to afford healthcare policy cover. Consequently, the introduction of Obamacare provided for the indiscriminate provision of healthcare to all citizens, including those earning minimum incomes.

In most cases, the poor individuals who suffer from some aggravated conditions emanating from lack of medical attention were also covered by introducing the ACA. It is essential to note that Obamacare does not discriminate individuals based on their inability or ability to pay premiums (Kocher et al. 536). Thus, the care intends to include all individuals so that their treatment is never dictated by their ability to afford such healthcare services. Obama care also had equal inclusion for both the old and the young people in all medical attention.

Moreover, according to Protection, Patient, and Affordable Care Act (759), the other consideration in the act is the provision of contraception treatment to women. Contraceptive treatment was considered within the act because the women needed access to birth control with the aim of leading a healthy lifestyle. As such, Obamacare provided for the supply and easy acquisition of the birth controls for women.

In conclusion, the signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010 was meant to expand access to medical care across the United States (Blumenthal et al. 2451). The act was to meet the set objectives by lowering the rates of the uninsured people through some conscious expansion of both the private and the public avenues of obtaining insurance.

Works Cited

Blumenthal, David, Melinda Abrams, and Rachel Nuzum. "The affordable care act at 5 years." (2015): 2451-2458. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMhpr1503614

Kocher, Robert, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, and Nancy-Ann M. DeParle. "The Affordable Care Act and the future of clinical medicine: the opportunities and challenges." Annals of internal medicine 153.8 (2010): 536-539. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/0003-4819-153-8-201010190-00274

Protection, Patient, and Affordable Care Act. "Patient protection and affordable care act." Public law 111.48 (2010): 759-762. http://www.alpinehr.com/news/PPACA.pdf