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Kahlea Jackson

ENG 112- Issue Report

Mar. 10, 2020

A look at the impact of the Affordable Care Act on U.S. Health Care

Most Americans are looking for an affordable method of healthcare for themselves and

their families. Under Barack Obama’s administration, the affordable healthcare act was

developed to give people better options than the ones they had previously. When an American

looks for good healthcare, they desire accessibility to low-income households, better and

improved resources, and a diverse legislature that can help anyone from a small child to a small

business owner. When the Affordable Care Act was first established, its main goal was to reduce

the uninsured population and make marketplace health plans more affordable for everyone. “It is

open to anyone and meant to help residents find affordable insurance easier” (Naima). The

Affordable Care act succeeded in lowering healthcare costs and offering more access to medical

resources, however, it also lowered the amount of pay for many physicians and created a plan

more focused on expansion than on market competition.

Obama care has substantially succeeded in increasing the number of insured peoples.

"From 48.6 million in 2010 to 27.3 million in January–March 2016, according to the National

Health Interview Survey" (Oberlander). Before Obama Care, many patients knew they would

have high deductibles, but would also receive other expenses that would cause some to go
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bankrupt. Hospitals would also be affected by patients not being able to take care of their bills

resulting in higher charges being passed on to other patrons. With this cycle of money loss going

in a circle, the government's intervention began with providing money and reimbursements to the

hospitals and patients. By providing government funds to hospitals and insurers, health care costs

began the declining process. By creating exchanges, or Health Insurance Marketplaces, the ACA

gave the choice of Medicaid eligibility expansion to each state. "States must also decide whether

to expand eligibility for their Medicaid programs" (Oberlander). Using the power that was given,

the states made eligibility requirements based on their demographic. More states expanded their

qualifications, giving a certain amount of money to people below the poverty line, requiring

them to pay lower deductibles, thus resulting in lower healthcare costs. "the federal government

will initially pay 100% and eventually 90% of the costs for newly eligible enrollees"

(Oberlander).

With more people insured and healthcare costs improving, many Americans were

receiving the health benefits they needed. Health spending began to rise as states had funds to

invest in their hospitals and patients had funds (covered by their insurance) to fill prescriptions.

Lower-income families were not the only group to receive benefits, many eligible Middle-class

families also received a cut of the targeted budget. "The subsidies and related spending represent

a substantial federal commitment-$43 billion in 2016-to helping middle-income Americans

afford coverage" (Glied). Using the exchanges provided by the government, people could shop

for more varieties of Medicare and compare their options. More people chose to have the

protection under the ACA because it took away the larger costs that attaches itself to a medical

fee when uninsured.

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"Medicare for All is motivational poetry for many" (Peterson), but while the ACA

successfully lowered medical costs, it might have contributed to the lowering of Physician pay as

well. Physician's services are compensated with a predetermined budget. When that budget

exceeds its limits, the Physician gets a reduced pay. The pay has to be automatically reduced due

to the preset budget, despite if the physician is performing the same quality of service they have

previously fulfilled. Alongside focusing on a resolute budget, the ACA focuses more on the

individual and not on tactics that would be forwarding marketplace purposes. Medicare has

productivity adjustments that assume hospitals and institutions will become more productive

over time, thus they will slowly need less and less money. This will benefit places that can find

productive ways to use reimbursements and increase optimization tactics, but for other places, it

will encourage the insurance asking costs to ascend. While the individual's cost will decline, the

institutions will eventually begin asking for more money, this in return will lead to the reinflation

of the cost of insurance for individuals. "Reducing payments to institutional providers should not

be confused with lowering the cost of providing care" (Wilensky).

Seniors can also be added to the list of those who benefited from certain aspects of the

Affordable Health Care Act. Senior citizens, who are shown to be the highest recipients of

medical needs and costs, also experienced some repercussions from the ACA's system. With age

comes a lot of prescriptions that keep the body elevated and still feeling young. The ACA cut

down on prescription costs and minimizes the coverage gap while focusing more money on

preventative services. These improvements are beneficial to patients of any age, but preventative

care and discounted prescription drugs are crucial for the elderly and people who are getting

older. More money is also being put into medical homes which will be helpful for older citizens

that need instant care but can't necessarily cover an in-home helper all by themselves. It is much
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cheaper and useful to have places where the elderly can stay and have immediate access to

medical facilities and professionals. Large medical payments can take a huge dip out of senior

citizen's savings, the ACA takes a load off of the elder's shoulders by offering to pay portions of

their medical bills for them. They gain this money by reimbursing providers for the coverage

they offer patients, in this scenario everyone gains. "Medicare disproportionate share payments,

are intended to compensate providers for the cost of treating patients who cannot pay their bills"

(Glied).

Affordable health care is a machine with many working parts. Consumers, companies,

individuals, private business owners, politicians, and physicians all make up the many aspects of

who is affected by health care legislation. The Affordable Care Act was created in hopes to

provide affordable care to a diverse group of people while improving institutions and

productivity. The results of the ACA reduced the cost of medical care while expanding the

options for various resources using exchanges and a new budget. With this new budget,

Physician's pays were reduced when spending came too close to the limit. Money was also

slowly taken out of institutions over a duration of time that growth is expected to take place in.

The ACA has had many effects on people, but as current legislation seeks out ways to improve

upon and regulate health care in this country, it is indisputable that this is an important issue that

affects everyone.
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Works Cited

Ford, Naima. "What is Obamacare?" El Chicano Weekly, Jul 05, 2012, pp. 1. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1027228346?

accountid=10163.

Glied, Sherry, PhD., and Adlan Jackson B.A. "The Future of the Affordable Care Act and Insurance

Coverage." American Journal of Public Health, vol. 107, no. 4, 2017, pp. 538-540. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1903817146?

accountid=10163, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303665.

Oberlander, Jonathan. "From Obamacare to Hillarycare — Democrats’ Health Care Reform Agenda." The

New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 375, no. 14, 2016, pp. 1309-1311. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1826744403?

accountid=10163, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1610712

Oberlander, Jonathan. "The Future of Obamacare." The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 367, no.

23, 2012, pp. 2165-2167. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1223492343?

accountid=10163, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1213674.

Peterson, Mark A., PhD. "Enacting Medicare for all: Balancing Ambition with the Needs of Statecraft."

American Journal of Public Health, vol. 109, no. 11, 2019, pp. 1521-1522. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2304088194?

accountid=10163, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305339.
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Ritger, Clara. "Why Public Opinion of Obamacare Remains Negative." Nationaljournal.com, 29 Apr. 2014.

Gale In Context: U.S. History, https://link-gale-

com.proxy039.nclive.org/apps/doc/A366361128/UHIC?u=shel41774&sid=UHIC&xid=2e2829db.

Accessed 1 Apr. 2020

RPC // in her words: Obamacare's negative impact on women. (2014). (). Washington: Federal

Information & News Dispatch, LLC. Retrieved from eLibrary; ProQuest Central Retrieved from

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1545043323?

accountid=10163.

Wilensky, Gail R. "The Shortfalls of “Obamacare”." The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 367, no.

16, 2012, pp. 1479-1481. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy039.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1113331777?

accountid=10163,doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1210763.