President Obama approved the Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010, which put in place comprehensive reforms that have improved access to affordable health coverage for everyone and also safeguard consumers from the offensive insurance organizations’ practices (White House, 2016). The enacting of this law has made it possible for the majority of Americans to purchase health insurance. People that are covered by their employers or those that pay a tax penalty do not pay for the health insurance because they are already covered by their leaders, but for the unemployed, it is a necessity. Consequently, Americans can now have access to critical preventive services like yearly check-ups, flu shots, and birth control at no cost. The Affordable Care Act has provided clarity on how health insurance plans should reveal reasons for increasing premiums and, hence, involving standardized and simple summaries to ensure that over 170 million Americans can recognize their cover details and also compare different plans (White House, 2016). As such, the Affordable Care Act has expanded mental health, substance use, and disorder benefits, as well as, parity protections to over 60 million Americans.
Also, the Affordable Care Act has created accountable care organizations which consist of doctors and other health-care providers who come together to provide coordinated, high-quality care at lower costs to their Medicare patients. Also, more than 477 accountable care organizations are aiding 8.9 million Medicare beneficiaries all over the US (White House, 2016). Besides, hospitals in Medicare now receive incentives to help reduce hospital-acquired infections and preventable readmissions. Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act has eliminated 39 million out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries for preventive services like bone mass measurements, annual physicals, smoking cessation, and cancer screening (White House, 2016).. As such, the infrastructure for performance measurement can be strengthened to support quality improvement, payment, efficiency, and delivery reform. The Health and Human Services had established and implemented a national strategy to improve the delivery and quality of service. The Affordable Care Act has also established tax credits since 2015, and they have helped 7.8 million Americans who could not have afforded coverage.
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(Source: Sebelius, 2017)
Furthermore, the primary care has been strengthened by funding primary care extensions program to support primary care extension agents who help primary care practices to implement quality improvement. The Affordable Care Act has also offered payment incentives to reward quality of care and greater efficiency in Medicare, the private sector, and Medicaid ( Dubow, 2010). In Medicare, hospitals that meet the performance standards for clinical care and efficient use of resources have to be eligible for incentive payments to reward both improvement and achievement. In the private sector, all health plans that are offered through state Health Insurance Exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act are obliged to take part in quality improvement activities and public reporting (Dubow, 2010). In Medicaid, all states that have the option to develop health homes that meet the requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries with prolonged conditions.
With regards to women health issues, the health care reform promises to modify the areas of the health care delivery and its impact on women’s health (White House 2016). The Affordable Care Act has eradicated out-of-pocket costs for preventive services like reproductive counseling, contraception, immunizations, and obesity screening. This coverage has been guaranteed for over 55 million women in the US (Sebelius, 2017). The Affordable Care Act also mandates integrated health care as the strategy reform. The current system fragments women’s health in primary care, gynecological needs, and even in their roles as primary caregivers for spouses, parents, and children (White House 2016). As such, alterations in compensation, and in restructuring financing and care coordination systems through responsible care organizations and medical homes will improve women’s health care.
References
Dubow, J. (2010, July). How health reform will affect health care quality and the delivery of services . Retrieved from https://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/ppi/health-care/fs197-health.pdf
Sebelius, K. (2013, October 24). How the Affordable Care Act improves the lives of American women. Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/10/24/how-affordable-care-act- improves-lives-american-women
The White House. (2016, March 2) . Fact sheet: The Affordable Care Act: Healthy communities six years later . Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/02/fact-sheet- affordable-care-act-healthy-communities-six-years-later
