The primary focus of the Affordable Care Act or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA has been associated with the provision of basic care as one of the pillars supporting the American foundation of the healthcare system. This piece of legislation places more emphasis on a number of areas with the intention of the healthcare system in America. These areas include affordability, quality, efficiency, community health, workforce and reforms in the provision of revenues among others. It is important to note that the bill associated with this act was subjected to various lawsuits where the argument made by the states that filed these lawsuits argued that the constitution was being violated in several ways by this act. Moreover, they argued that the act was going to cause significant infringement on the rights of certain states upon implementation. In spite of those lawsuits, the coming to effect of this act had led to the transformation of the lives of the majority of the citizens in various ways (Powers, 2014).
Assessment of Impacts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act PPACA on Uninsured Population
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This act is certainly going to affect the lives and wellbeing of the local population in the region especially those that are not insured. This involves the empowerment of the population to access the primary benefits of healthcare system established by this act. In this regard, a member of the local community having pre-existing conditions are expected to receive health insurance cover. This will go a long way in removing annual and lifetime caps associated with payouts for health insurance. Furthermore, the population will be in a better position to experience the healthcare services from an enhanced workforce as well as well as improved quality and efficiency of the healthcare facilities. When it comes to reforms on healthcare insurance coverage, the acts establishes cost-sharing and premium subsidies with the introduction new policies and regulations governing and controlling the health insurance sector (Hills and Ryder, 2012).
Essentially, such initiatives will oversee the creation of new consumer base for the purchase of health insurance covers thus increasing the associated revenues. Further, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act play a vital role in legalizing the healthcare insurance cover in accordance with the expectation of the majority of the United States citizens. As such, the various forms of healthcare insurance cover that are already in existence are considerably strengthened whereas now insurance covers are introduced based on affordability and effectiveness of their operations. The view presented by Schmidt (2011) on this matter point to the fact that healthcare insurance markets for families and individuals are expected to be made more fordable through the full implementation of this act. The aspect of the minimum or the basic essential health coverage is also expected to come into play with the adoption of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by the member of the local communities. With the expansion of the coverage that is already in existence, the act will fundamentally manage to restructure provision of healthcare services to reach out to all the American citizens as well as the legal American residents (Winn, 2012).
Other than healthcare insurance cover, the implementation Affordable Care Act will introduce major realignments that are expected to affect the healthcare system in various ways. In this case, considerable changes are expected to take place in relation to the quality of service provision by healthcare practitioners and workforce. Moreover, the design and the transparency of health information, as well as the organization of the healthcare service provision have, will also be subjected to considerable realignments. This act creates room for the introduction and adoption of broad changes that are likely to change the manner in which the Health and Human Services (HHS) department as well as the programs associated with state Medicaid operates (Hills and Ryder, 2012). This is achieved through the introduction of new techniques in the delivery of services and making of payments with enhanced accountability and transparency. There is also the idea of integrated clinical and medical homes that are responsible for the provision of accountable and effective healthcare for various organizations offering service to members of the local population. This act makes significant investments with regard to the development of strategies adopted by various players and stakeholders with the intention of promoting the value and efficiency of medical services. To this extent, the ultimate purpose of the measures within this act will be the transformation of the technology used in health information (Selker and Wasser, 2014).
Evaluation of Important Provisions
Importance and prioritization of provisions of Affordable Care Act or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA is a critical exercise in the evaluation of the benefits and challenges associated with its implementation. In that regard, some of the comprehensive reforms affecting the healthcare system in the United States are considered as follows (Atlas, 2010):
The Individual Mandate
According to the Affordable Care Act, ACA, all citizens as well as the residents that are legally in America are expected to be covered by health insurance. This requirement is termed as the individual mandate where the legal residents and the American citizens are put in a plan that allows them to engage in the purchase of health insurance cover that includes a collection of certain benefits that are essential to their wellbeing. As a way of operating with regard to policy and regulation requirements, members of the local population with the capability of affording health insurance cover will be described as having income beyond the 138 percent level described as a federal level of poverty. On the other hand, those that are incapable of affording the health coverage are regarded as having incomes that are lower than the 138 percent of the federal level of poverty thus they are eligible for the benefits that accompany premium assistance. In this case, the assistances may be in the form of tax credits as well as other exemptions from the costs accompanying the individual mandate (Powers, 2014; Hills and Ryder, 2012).
Medicare and Medicaid
The structure and policy design of Medicare and Medicaid brings about certain incentives that raise conflicts with regard to the beneficiaries who are eligible for these services. The policies regulating Medicaid and Medicare are formulated with the intention of lowering their costs. However, neither of the two offers an incentive when it comes to taking responsibility for managing healthcare service provision. In this provision, certain incentives are likely to be misaligned due to misrepresentation such as the rules and regulation controlling the sharing of Medicare's cost-sharing rules amongst various stakeholders. Others include the shifting of costs within nursing homes and healthcare centers as well as the changes affecting the settings acute and chronic care. A number policy and regulation initiatives like payments for various performances, capitations, and shifting of the costs for Medicaid are vital considerations in addressing issues of conflicting incentives. However, it is worth noting that all these considerations and incentives have different weaknesses and strengths. A look at the baby boom generation that continues to age in relation to shortfalls witnessed in projected budgets for state and federal administrations raises fundamental questions that need to be addressed by policy makers in future (Winn, 2012).
Shifting of Cost Within Home Health Care
Individuals with dual eligibilities will be in a position to receive health care services under plans involving Medicaid and Medicare. In this regard, there will be possibilities of effecting the shifting of costs across various healthcare programs and plans. The liberalization of the guidelines governing the healthcare coverage associated with Medicare took place as a way of responding to certain decisions made by the courts. This decision shifted the focus of benefits from home healthcare to care for long-term and chronic illness patients. State Medicaid plans and health programs are expected to take advantage of liberal guidelines found in this act to adopt a Medicare strategy for maximization. This will go a long way in ensuring that Medicare becomes a basic means of acquiring healthcare services at the local community level where possible. The incentive linked with the shifting of costs of Medicaid’s home health care to Medicare is seen as a negative one at the level of state administration (Schmidt, 2011).
The reasons for ranking the above provisions in the order of priority and importance, as shown above, include their levels of urgency as well as their demand in addressing the plights of the local area population on healthcare matters.
Analysis of the Potential Success or Failure of this Act
Several successes are likely to be realized from the adoption and implementation of this act in relation to the healthcare needs of the local population. As such, the majority of the people in this local region will be in better position to receive healthcare insurance cover without having to spend a lot on them. Further, there will be an adequate number of highly trained health care workforces in place to offer services that are expected to meet the ever-increasing demand for healthcare services in the region. It is worth noting that one of the failures that this the provisions of this act seeks to address is the shortfall in the number of health workforce as well as health practitioner that has been worsening over the last decade. This act is expected to be successful in keeping the promise of accessibility of quality healthcare services by the members of the local population (Selker and Wasser, 2014).
To this extent, the organization will be expected to shift its attention towards the measures aimed at lowering shortages and reducing the burden felt by the member of the local areas who is already subjected the effects of a fragile healthcare system. The act also makes considerable attempts towards addressing the shortages experienced by the local areas in relation to the existing limitations in the scope of healthcare reach and coverage. Moreover, there will be needed to make considerable financial investments meant for facilitating training of healthcare practitioners and workforces. Other challenges that the implementation of this act is expected to address include short consultation and examination time by caregivers, reduced satisfaction from the patients seeking healthcare services as well as the instability and high levels of stress facing health care providers (Hills and Ryder, 2012; Lewin Group, 2010).
Future Implications of this Act
The implementation of this act is will have several implications with regard to the future of the healthcare system in the local area. One of these implications is that there will be considerable changes and alterations witnessed concerning the regional and national choice of healthcare plans. In this case, the states will have the permission to develop various choices of healthcare plans that will allow health insurance providers to sell their covers through a compact system that will be subjected to the relevant regulations and laws. Additionally, some of the changes brought about by PPACA are likely to affect the daily operations and activities of healthcare practitioners and their relationship with patients in future. Furthermore, the full implementation of this act implies a higher likelihood of the healthcare system at the local and national levels being subjected more strict regulations. As such, the healthcare practitioner is likely to find themselves working and offering healthcare services under undue pressure from the policy makers and regulators in the health sector (Powers, 2014).
Policy Updates, Changes, Revisions and Recommendations
In order to address the circumstances that are likely to be occasioned by the implementation of the PPACA in future, this organization needs to make the relevant policy updates and recommendations. Such changes will play a critical in assisting the local community on how to deal with any challenges or opportunities that may arise in the future of the adoption and impletion of this act by the healthcare system. It is recommended that the policy makers and the regulators expected to oversee the implementation of this act should maintain a regular consultative forum with the healthcare practitioners and other stakeholders. This is because their voices and perspectives will form a critical part in making the necessary improvements where necessary and usher a new era of healthcare that reflects the dynamic interests of all stakeholders (Schmidt, 2011; Winn, 2012).
In summing up, the adoption of he Affordable Care Act or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA will be an important step towards addressing the existing and future challenges for the healthcare system in the local area. Clearly, the Act places emphasis on the establishment of the institutes charged with the responsibility of conducting effective research studies towards the promotion medical research capabilities as well as capacities.
References
Atlas, S. W. (2010). Reforming America's health care system: The flawed vision of Obamacare . Stanford, Calif: Hoover Inst. Press.
Hills, I., & Ryder, E. (2012). Funding and appropriations in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act . Nova Novinka.
Lewin Group. (2010). Patient protection and affordable care act (PPACA): Long-term costs for governments, employers, families, and providers . Falls Church, Va: Lewin Group.
Ogbonna, C. (2013). Different Perspective on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act . University Press of America.
Powers, J. S. (2014). Healthcare changes and the Affordable Care Act: A physician call to action . Springer International Publishing.
Schmidt, P. L. (2011). Medicare and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act . Hauppauge, N.Y: Nova Science Publishers.
Selker, H. P., & Wasser, J. S. (2014). The Affordable Care Act as a National Experiment: Health Policy Innovations and Lessons . Springer
Winn, P. (2012). Dominate Obamacare: The complete and simple guide to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act . Altamonte Springs, Florida: Fast Forward Academy, LLC.
