The current health care system has been shaped by a series of events dating back to 1933. The current health care system has been proposed and opposed several times by several leaders who first saw the potential it could have in providing effective health care to a large population. This paper gives a narrative of 5 major events in health care reform.
Development of the Social Security Act
Between the years 1933 to 1945, a series of events that saw the disadvantaged, unemployed, and elderly Americans provided with a federal safety net occurred. This was thanks to President Franklin D. Roosevelt who signed the law in 1935. The ACT was originally established to pay financial benefits to the retired population who were over 65 years on tax contributions and lifetime payroll. Since its inception, over ten million people in the US get financial assistance mainly in health care systems.
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Creation of Medicare and Medicaid Programs
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the bill leading to formation of Medicaid and Medicare programs. Originally, the Medicare program was divided into two parts; Part A which provided hospital insurance and Part B which provided medical insurance. Over the years, several changes have been to Medicare by Congress and now more people are eligible to the program. Moreover, the program now offers more benefits such as prescription drug coverage. Originally, people getting cash assistance were the only ones insured but currently, Medicaid is also covering low-income families, pregnant women, people in need of long-term care, and disabled people. In addition to that, individual states can also alter their Medicaid programs to offer a wide variation of services in order to best help their patients.
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1985
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act is a federal law which mandates organizations to provide sustainable coverage of health insurance to their respective employees and as well their dependents. The Act was formed in 1985 and was later revised in 1999. It had terms under which all businesses that employs over 20 people and offers group health insurance plan should as well give the employees an option of maintaining the coverage with their own expenses but for a less period of time once they lose their legibility. Today, COBRA laws impact most businesses which offer group health insurance plan as each of them must comply with the law and failure to notify the employees of their COBRA rights might result to a fine of $100 per day (Erin-Ann, 2009). In addition, employers can also be held responsible for damages which may include the worker’s legal fees and medical costs. On the other hand, the employee is legible to pay 100% of the health insurance coverage costs under COBRA law and an addition of 2% surcharge which will enable the employer to cover administrative charges.
Proposal of the Health Security Act
In 1993, an attempt aimed at broadening the health care system to cover for a larger population is proposed by President Bill Clinton. The Interdepartmental Working Group which contained over 30 working groups which was addressing particular issues on health care was appointed by the president to perform the task force (Mariner, 1994). However, Republicans got concerned with the idea of turning more than one-seventh of the nation’s economy to the government and decided to oppose the Act. The Republicans also argued that a profound and substantive policy difference occurred between them and the President which could not be glossed over hence they could agree with the President’s terms. Moreover, the Republicans also argued that the President would take the country to an unknown system of government-run medicine and this was a major concern to them. The opposition was not only conducted by the Republicans but also from other employers and the health care industry in general. The efforts were futile and ended in 1994 but it then sparked a national debate concerning the health care system in the US which later led to the creation of the Affordable Care Act.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA)
After a long debate, the Affordable Care Act was then signed into law by President Barack Obama. This rapidly set a series of reforms in comprehensive health insurance and it included the creation of free preventive care, health insurance marketplaces, and coverage for adults who were below 26 years of age (Custer, 2017). Nevertheless, the Act faced struggles and controversies and was severally repealed in the House of Representatives but it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012 as constitutional. Presently, the law has made health insurance available and affordable to many people.
Conclusion
In sum, the current health care system has reformed from the first Social Security Act to the present Affordable Care Act over a series of opposition and national debates. However, the present health system can now insure and cover a large number of people in the country compared to before.
References
Erin-Ann J.S, (2009). Cobra’s Gross Misconduct Exception: Strategies for Compliance in the Face of Uncertainty. The Labor Lawyer , (3), 399.
Custer, W. S. (2017). Medicare Advantage as a Model for Affordable Care Act Marketplaces. Journal of Financial Service Professionals , 71 (1), 40–42.
