Pros and Cons of the U.S. Governments Recent Passage of Affordable Health Care Act - Essay Example

Pros and Cons of the U.S. Government’s Recent Passage of Affordable Health Care Act Introduction Obama Care is the name for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which was signed into law in March 2010 by President Obama. The new health care reforms law in America continues to call it Obama Care. The aim of this Act was give more Americans access to affordable, cheap, quality health insurance and promote growth in health care across America. The law expands Medicaid, improves Medicare, and gives coverage beyond 2014 as well as new taxes and tax breaks (Modschiedler and Bennett 236). The Affordable Health Care Act sought to reduce the number of uninsured people in the country by ensuring access to affordable health insurance. Disadvantages The working Americans will pay more: Most of the middle-class Americans work full-time jobs and receive health insurance through their employers. The healthcare cost that existed before the Affordable Care Act became law and this law made the employers re-evaluate the insurance policies they offered (Skousen n.p.). As the employers tried to reduce the cost of providing coverage for the employees, the employed Americans paid more for their work-based health insurance while the citizens with high cost work base insurance saw their benefits decline to avoid the taxes that will be incurred in the beginning of 2018. Some of the coverage is against the moral values of the employers: The law stated that contraception was to be offered free of charge to patients. This law caused a lot of issues especially for employers whose moral rules state that they don’t support any kind of contraception. This brought about a lot of lawsuits because the Americans are allowed to have freedom of religion; for some, the health issue was against their religious beliefs (Skousen n.p.). Adding additional health care expenses will impact workers: The employers were against the Affordable Care Act, because they were already offering health care insurance to their employees. With the introduction of Obama Care, they felt that there was going to be another increase due to the law. In some cases, there was an increase in the amount employees pay for the health insurance to offset the high premiums from insurance companies. America is already very far in debt: As a country, America is facing big debt. With the additional Government program, this only causes more debts. The Affordable Care Act has had the potential to save money, but since it is over their budget, it will cost the taxpayer more money. Health coverage: An individual has to obtain health coverage by January, so as to get an exemption or pay a fee if one can afford it (Skousen n.p.). This means an extra charge in regard to filing of taxes. People who don’t get a Federal Poverty Level limit of 400% are affected the most and don’t qualify for assistance. Expensive health benefits: Employee health benefits can be expensive. The people who earn low wages end up getting better value through the marketplace, while employer-sponsored coverage means they can’t get cost assistance (Skousen n.p.). In addition to that, dependants of employees with coverage are unable to use the marketplace. Advantages Four tiers of coverage: Under this Act, there will be four tiers of coverage for health insurance plans which are Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum (Skousen n.p.). These levels vary differently based on the actual value or on the average percentage of healthcare expense which will be paid by the plan. Bronze amounted to 60%, silver 70%, gold 80% and platinum 90% (Skousen n.p.). This meant that the higher the metallic level, the more the plan one will pay towards his healthcare, but the higher the monthly premium will be. Regardless the type of plan one has, he will covered by the Essential Health benefit. Ambulatory patient services and hospitalization: People can receive care without being admitted to any hospital, such as the doctor’s office or clinic. This also comes with a package of home health services and hospice care. One receives care as a hospital patient and this includes doctors and nurses care. This hospitalization coverage includes surgeries, transplant and nursing home expenses. Affordable health: Many Americans who are uninsured will get access to affordable quality health insurance through Medicaid expansion, employers, and the Health Insurance Marketplace. Over half of the uninsured Americans will get free or low cost health insurance, and some can get help on out-of-pocket costs using their state’s Health Insurance Marketplace. There are going to be more private coverage options than ever and all major coverage options must provide a minimum essential coverage. The Medicaid was expanded up to 15.9 million for men, women and children living below 138% of the poverty level (Skousen n.p.). Young Adults: Young adults can stay on their parents plan, and 26. 82% of uninsured adults will qualify for free or low cost insurance (Skousen n.p.). With the help of insurance, everyone is able to get lower prices on healthcare and this protects them in an emergency. Obama Care’s many protections: It ensures that one can’t be dropped from the coverage when he gets sick or makes an honest mistake on the application. With this Act, one can get coverage or treatment for any illness or be charged extra for being sick. One can’t be charged more for being a woman either. Some of the protections ensure that one has the right to a quick appeal; health insurance companies can’t make unjustified rate hikes and must spend the majority of premium dollars on care. How the Act affects Individuals, Companies (Large & Small) and Business in General This Act will affect individuals in such a way that employees will get health insurance through employers, retirees or disabled persons will receive Medicare and other individuals will receive Medicaid and other public healthcare. An individual can longer be denied coverage that is based on the pre-existing conditions which have improved from the old acts. Finally, an individual will pay for their own health insurance (Pakroo 87). Obama Care affects small and large businesses. Obama Care small business tax credit helps many people, while the large companies face new requirements. Small businesses receive a lot of help. This is because small business owners find it hard to provide for themselves and their employees with insurance, due to the rising health insurance costs, while large companies have remained unaffected due to the leverage they get from large group health plans. Conclusion The Affordable Care Act’s main aim was give more Americans access to affordable, cheap, quality health insurance and promote growth in health care across America. The pros and cons of this Act are discussed in this paper. This act has generally had a positive effect on individuals as well as small and large businesses. . Works Cited Modschiedler, Christa and Denise Baeubien Bennett. Guide to Reference in Medicine and Health. New York: American Library Association, 2014. Print. Pakroo, Peri H. The Women's Small Business Start-Up Kit: A Step-by-Step Legal Guide. New York: Nolo, 2014. Print. Skousen, Mark. Economic Logic 4th Ed. Washington DC: Capital Press, 2013. Print. Read More