Position Paper in Support of Patient Affordable Care Act - Essay Example

This population lives each day not sure what would happen if they fell sick or were in need of medical attention. The absence of a medical insurance therefore means that they cannot visit the physician for regular check ups and will always postpone illnesses or trips to the doctor because they simply cannot afford it. Delayed medical care for fear of expenses is a disaster considering the number of people in the country and the illnesses that could be treated early turning fatal. People without health insurance are at the greatest risk of not catching illnesses early enough and not acquiring medical attention when need arises.

This leads to an increase in healthcare premiums because of unpaid emergency medical bills of uninsured people (Gruber 33). In early 2010, president Obama signed the Affordable Care Act as a step to address the pending disaster of healthcare. This law was set in motion with comprehensive healthcare insurance reforms to deal with the healthcare issue of the Americans. According to young invincible, implementing the Act will carter for five major areas namely the extension of the dependent coverage to up to 26years, reforms for college heath plan and exchanges to be more established (Younginvincible.org). It will also offer a catastrophic plan for young adults and expand the Medicaid to the low-income adults who are childless.

This plan will go to immense lengths in ensuring that every young person is insured or has access to healthcare through their parents plan. Overt he next few years, there ought to be no barriers when accessing medical care with the implementation of the Affordable care act. It is projected that by the year 2014, changes like a 50% discount on all brand name drugs, tax credits on small business, insurance plans for pre-existing medical conditions as well as an expansion on young adult coverage will be visible.

Some of the plans are already underway (Pipes 52). Health systems implemented in other countries around the world have proved to work effectively ensuring that almost every individual in that country is covered medically. According to sick around the world, a country like the United Kingdom has a National Health System (NHS) that is funded through taxes and is run by the government. It ensures that each person born in the U.K will have access and use the NHS (pbs.org). In addition, no one is presented with a medical bill through out the duration they are seeking medication.

The initiative of the NHS has also reduced the waiting times that were previously required for elective surgeries. In a country like Japan which holds pride for the best health according to global statistics and the second largest economy. These people also visit the doctor thrice as much as Americans, use more drugs, have double the number of MRI scans, and reportedly spend more days in hospitals (pbs.org). Apparently, they spend only about half of what the United States spends per capita on healthcare.

To achieve this, the Japanese have put it in law that every person must buy a health insurance plan through a community plan or through an employer. Reid then tours a country, which came up with the concept of national healthcare systems, Germany. Germany offers universal medical care, which includes mental health, dental, homeopathy, medical, and spa treatment for its 80 million people (pbs.org). They have devised a structure where the poor are paid for by the rich and the healthy