Healthcare Reform: The US Experience - Essay Example

The subsidies are provided to families with an income level as explained above because such families do not qualify for either Medicare or Medicaid. Furthermore, such families do not have coverage from their employers. Premium credits were also introduced to help with payment of coverage, which also touches immigrants who are in the country legally if their income is below 100 per cent of the federal poverty level (Jackson & Nolen, 2010).

The act states that immigrants who are in the country illegally do not qualify for either Medicaid or subsidies on insurance. Most of the illegal immigrants who do not qualify have not been in the country for more than five years as required by the law so they receive either one of the new reform provisions: Medicaid or subsidies on insurance. Population groups who do not register for Medicaid and are above 33 per cent of the poverty line do not qualify because they have not joined other people who have registered for Medicaid. Others may decide not to pay for insurance because they think that it is expensive for them, and for that reason, they would not qualify. In addition, insurance coverage might cost more than 8 per cent of the household, which will be quite unaffordable (Turnbull, 2010).

The AHRQ’s functions are to prioritize patients’ safety so that the health conditions of the patient are improved, which is done with the help of the DHHS. The current reforms passed in 2010 consider the patients’ safety in workplaces so that small injuries can be averted and better relationships can be achieved between physicians and patients. Additionally, liability premium reductions have been considered in the reforms. The above initiatives were started with the help of both the DHHS and ARHQ. The CMS is concerned with Medicaid, Medicare and children's health care insurance. The new reforms aim to accomplish three major goals: expanding insurance coverage, providing better quality insurance, and managing costs. The CMS agency will help in controlling the cost of services provided in healthcare centres; for example, some risks occur in workplaces, such as injuries and hospital-acquired conditions that require medical cover. The CMS has been pushing for the reduction of such incidents to cut down on costs as required by the new reforms. In addition, they have also been in talks with physicians and hospital workers to give a better quality and cheaper service to patients. This will bring down healthcare costs, and the physicians will benefit from Medicare savings (Groszkruger, 2011).

The healthcare reforms to take effect in 2014 will require more nurses because the field will expand and job openings in nursing will arise. For example, more medical healthcare homes and healthcare centres will be formed. The enactment of the law will need more schools and training of nurses. In addition, individuals who are interested in the profession will require full-time education. This will prompt the government to invest more in training more nurses to curb the shortage. The national government will aim to provide grants and loans to nurses and will have to increase the amount they use to sustain the training systems that nurses require. As mentioned above, nurses will require full-time education to be highly skilled. The functions currently undertaken by nurses will also change and new ones will surface. Nurses benefiting from the advancement of their education will be able to provide safe and improved quality care services. The clinics run by nurses are important because they will play a significant role in helping to increase the number of people treated because of health reforms, and such clinics will get more financial support (Buerhaus et al., 2012).