There are different options for health insurance in the United States. A beneficiary can choose between affordable employer health insurance cover or continue being covered under parents’ health insurance until the age of 26 years. The Affordable Care Act provides more medical insurance options for American citizens. A federal subsidy is available which further lowers the cost of insurance, and in the process guarantees beneficiaries quality healthcare services for less. The federal subsidy is based on individual income. The laws made in health insurance in the United States have ensured that more people can afford quality healthcare services and in the process address the disparities which have existed over the years. According to Bauchner (2017) the ACA transformed healthcare delivery in the United States from an era where it was viewed as a privilege to the citizens to a new era where it is considered a basic right that everyone is entitled to. Since the ACA mainly focused on unemployed populations, it has achieved immeasurable success in addressing health disparities in the U.S. healthcare context.
A long as the preferred insurance plan has coverage in a given area, the benefiary is free to apply. Under the ACA, the opportunities provided covers most parts of the country. The ACA has revealed several opportunities for beneficiaries. People with preexisting conditions are no longer barred from accessing healthcare insurance. Previously, individual health status would be used to deny some people proper insurance. Once the insurer established that the beneficiary may pose a serious financial burden on the insurer, maybe in cases such as cancer or other terminal diseases, health insurance would be denied. The ACA neutralized such elements of discrimination. Medicaid expansion has benefitted millions of needy citizens over the years. Many low-income individuals and families can access quality healthcare services courtesy of the changes made in healthcare insurance. Healthcare is generally more affordable in the United States in the current setting. According to Kominski, Nonzee & Sorensen (2017) the ACA applies two models to improve health care insurance access i.e. increasing access to Medicaid based on their income (those earning a maximum of 138 per cent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). ACA also established eligibility to individuals earning 139-400 per cent of the FPL (Kominski, Nonzee & Sorensen, 2017). The approach used is, therefore, nondiscriminatory. US citizens have more opportunities in the current healthcare setting as compared in previous years. The federal and state allocation on healthcare has also been increased to cater for the rising health care needs. Many beneficiaries lack information on the way health insurance works. Unlike in the past when preexisting conditions such as diabetes and asthma were used to deny beneficiaries full coverage, currently the barriers have been removed. According to Rice et al. (2014), the ACA may not achieve the intended goals if a huge section of the population has no access to high quality health services and physicians. Same rates of coverage have been guaranteed for all health insurance beneficiaries to reduce disparities in healthcare delivery.
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References
Bauchner, H. (2017). Health Care in the United States: A Right or a Privilege. JAMA, 317 (1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.19687
Kominski, G. F., Nonzee, N. J., & Sorensen, A. (2017). The Affordable Care Act's Impacts on Access to Insurance and Health Care for Low-Income Populations. Annual Review of Public Health , 38 , 489–505. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044555
Rice, T., Unruh, L. Y., Rosenau, P., Barnes, A. J., Saltman, R. B., & van Ginneken, E. (2014). Challenges facing the United States of America in implementing universal coverage. Bulletin of the World Health Organization , 92 (12), 894–902. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.14.141762
