The Importance of Obamacare - Essay Example

Health care law (Obamacare) due: The Healthcare Law (Obamacare) is the new health care reform in America that was signed into law in 2010. The law provides Americans with new protections, benefits, and rights and make sure most citizens have access to standard and affordable healthcare. The law consists of two major laws; (1) Health Care and education Reconciliation Act (2) Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act. The Obamacare law objective is to minimize the rate of development of health care expenditures and implement other improvements to improve the present health care system (McDonough, 2011). This paper will critically evaluate the impact of the new health care law (Obamacare). It will recognize the advantages and disadvantages of the law and its significance in nursing practice. The impact of the new health care law The new health care law influences the insurance market rules. It affects both the public and private health insurances. Individuals get private health insurance by buying directly or through the employer. The public health insurance consists of Medicare and Medicaid. The concept of grandfathering is utilized to imply that the existing insurance policies would not be affected by new market rules. The act removed lifetime caps in all plans; this is inclusive of the grandfathered plans for all important health benefits stated in the law. The annual limits for group coverage and individual plans purchased after March, 2010 are prohibited starting 2014 (Marcovici, 2013). The health reform consists of the following important aspects: - Motivating employees to provide health insurance. - Empower consumer protection and need transparency. - Enlarge Medicaid to permit more individuals to qualify for coverage from low-income standards. - Give credits to medium income Americans who are not qualified for Medicaid to buy private health insurance coverage. - Put in place measures to protect against unfair increase in rates. - Promote preventive and primary care. - Necessitate majority of Americans to buy health insurance. - The establishment of the Health Insurance Exchange to streamline the buying of health insurance. The advantages of the health reform care The health reform act restricts the percentage of income that should be paid in respect to health insurance. In addition, it gives subsidies to help with the buying of the health insurance. Moreover, it gives cost-sharing help to restrict the out-of-pocket expenditures. The increased premium and choice help ensures that coverage is affordable and available to medium income Americans. The uninsured population of New York is expected to qualify in premium aid and constitute eighty seven percent (Gokhale, Erickson & Lawrence, 2011). The Obamacare gives Americans a chance to seek medical care early and have access to the physician consultation. This would ensure that the diseases are identified early enough and are cheap to treat. This will cut down the cost incurred in treatment diseases. When more people are insured then, the cost of health insurance premium is reduced because the risks and costs are spread in a large population. In regard to employment, the health reform will ensure that the workforce is healthy that will result to fewer hours lost in absence and hence more productivity. From the perspective of the small businesses, the health care law provides credit so that the employers give health coverage. The young people are entitled to stay on their parent’s health insurance until they attain twenty-six years. There is an opportunity to a temporary reinsurance scheme for the old between 55 and 64 years. Furthermore, the physicians are expected to create accountable health care institutions that promote the standard of care. The Medicare and Medicaid are responsible for evaluating the quality of care offered in the institutions. The Medicare will establish a payment program for doctors that will award the standard of care and not the quantity of services (Sanchez, Kopp & Sanzari, 2010). The disadvantages of the health reform care The health care law was intended to reduce the cost of healthcare, but this is not the case. This is because the cost of health care has been increasing rapidly. In reference to a piece of research carried out, the health insurance premiums in 2011 increased by nine percent for families to a standard that is more than $15,000 annually. This is very high compared to 2004. In addition, the employees are overburdened with deductions because the employers have moved the weight of health insurance to them. The other problem brought about the Obamacare is non-compliance waivers. As a result of the new reform law, most businesses were facing the high insurance cost for their staff that pushed them to the point of terminating the health care coverage (Tate, 2012). The significance of the Obamacare to nursing practice The health care laws have improved the efficiency and standard of health care. This is because payments are made on time, and this motivates the development of new care models. The law also focuses on reviewing and funding future projects of training staff and empowering the present health care professionals to improve and increase their education. The Obamacare enhances access to creative medical treatments through development of biologics cost competition (Timby & Smith, 2013). The nurses are protected by the health reform law because they cannot be discriminated by the insurance companies on the basis of their scope of practice described by their states. The law demands that community health teams to be created which will include nurses. The CLASS part of the Obamacare long-term objective will provide insurance to see most of the elderly stays at home in the last days of their lives (Tate, 2012). The nursing practice is affected by the definition of evidence-based therapy and billing codes in the Obamacare. The billing code requires that the health provider enters a code for the disease after treating a patient so as to be paid by the insurance company (Church, 2010). In conclusion, I support and agree with Obamacare because the law develops access to essential health services, enhance the standard of care provided and regulate the increasing health care expenses. The law has enabled millions of Americans to purchase the health insurance coverage they require. The fact that the law permits young people under the age of twenty-six to remain under their parent’s health insurance is crucial to American families as the economy recovers. This is important because most of the young adults are covered in times of unemployment. The individuals suffering from illnesses such as cancer, asthma, coronary disease, and injuries are protected by the law. There before they had no access to health insurance cover because of their status. The new law forbids the insurance company from asking high premiums, denying insurance or restricting benefits from 2014. The insurance providers are directed to ensure that these individuals receive and access the care needed instantly. The law has also improved the established health care institutions. In reference to the report by the Department of Health and Human Services, this law has ensured funding of one hundred and ninety renovation and construction projects in health care facilities (Center for American Progress, 2014). At the community level, the law has created almost 19,000 new jobs in new health care facilities. The school-based health centers have increased the number of youth receiving services. The services include substance abuse counseling, dental care, primary care and behavioral health care. The Obama care demands the insurance schemes to cover essential preventive services that include no cost sharing by women, immunizations, counseling services and most health screenings. Most of the people benefiting are the people with disabilities, women, children, youth and the aged have access to the crucial preventive services. All in all, the health care law is very important to the wellbeing of the Americans because the Prevention and Public Health Fund empowers the public health and the primary care workforce. References Church, Dawson. (2010). Energy Psychology Journal: Theory, Research, and Treatment. Energy Psychology Pr. Center for American Progress. (2014). Update: How Obamacare Is Benefiting Americans. Retrieved December 8, 2014, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/news/2012/07/12/11843/update-how-obamacare-is-benefiting-americans/ Gokhale, J., Erickson, A., & Lawrence, G. (2011). The Impact of ObamaCare on Nevada’s Medicaid Spending. Nevada Policy Research Institute policy study. McDonough, J. E. (2011). Inside National Health Reform. Berkeley: University of California Press. Marcovici, M. (2013). The Obamacare Case: Where will the new Healthcare system lead to ?. Norderstedt: Books on Demand. Sanchez, N., Kopp, C., & Sanzari, F. (2010). Destined for failure: American prosperity in the age of bailouts. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger. Tate, N. J. (2012). ObamaCare Survival Guide: The Affordable Care Act and What it Means for You and Your Healthcare. Humanix Books. Timby, B. K., & Smith, N. E. (2013). Introductory medical-surgical nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Read More