Summary of Article:
With the 2016 republican massive win, their first agenda after taking over office was to repeal the affordable healthcare act. With the repeal of the bill, there are a few consequences in the healthcare sector. One of those which has been analyzed here is its impact on opioid overdose. In 2015, it is estimated that more than 2.6 million Americans suffered from an opioid-related disorder. Even worse, about 33,000 opioid-related deaths were reported. Although FDA has approved a number of drugs to treat such complications, one of the reasons that emanated as to why it is only about 1 out of 10 reported cases of overdose are treated is due to high insurance cost which prevents many from acquiring medical insurance. A cut on Medicaid as proposed in the efforts to repeal the act will significantly affect the ability of many suffering from opioid use disorder to access treatment. In cities like Baltimore, for example, many with the above disorder solely rely on Medicaid to afford treatment. The cuts proposed will have dire consequences on Americans, especially those addicted to the above substance.
Why is this being important to public health?
The matter on repealing on the affordable healthcare act is important to healthcare as in one way or another it will affect millions of Americans who depend on the above healthcare insurance to access treatment. Given how expensive opioid treatment is, many are likely to succumb to disorders related with the consumption of the above drug in the case that the act is repealed and the changes made on the act prevents them from accessing treatment. It is hence even more important that repealing of the act is considered while having in mind the effect it is likely to have on an average American and an opioid user in this case.
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Reference
Wen, L. S., Behrle, E. B., & Tsai, A. C. (2017). Evaluating the impact of Affordable Care Act repeal on America's opioid epidemic. PLoS medicine , 14 (8), e1002380.
