Overview of Health Insurance Coverage Provision
Under the health insurance coverage provision, the intention of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) involved raining the number of Americans subjected to medical insurance through the expansion of both public and private insurance. Under this particular provision of the ACA, employers, except smaller ones, are required to be responsible for covering their employees or be forced to pay penalties (Kominski, Nonzee & Sorensen, 2017).
Pros of Health Insurance Coverage Provision
One of the pros of this health insurance coverage provided in the ACA is that it increases access to much-needed healthcare services among Americans. By expanding coverage, the ACA will expand access to needed medical care. Greater access to medical services due to expanded insurance coverage is linked to a significant reduction in mortality, as well as enhancement of mental health and self-reported health status. Besides, expanded insurance coverage makes health services more affordable through the provision of various subsidies. According to Mojtabai (2019), the other pro that associated with expanded insurance coverage in the ACA is the reduction of bankruptcy fillings among the Americans. Upon the enactment and implementation of this particular provision, the number of bankruptcy fillings declined to less than 800,000 people in 2016 from more than 1.5 million people in 2010.
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In this regard, most insurance companies were forced by the ACA to offer medical covers that catered for all costs through the elimination of lifetime and annual limits. Essentially, the health insurance coverage provided in the ACA influenced a significant reduction of some of the unexpected catastrophic health costs for Americans. From 1990 to 2008, spending on health rose to more than 7.2% annually. However, there was a considerable decline in spending after the implementation of this particular provision of the Affordable Care Act to 5.3% by 2014 (Kominski, Nonzee & Sorensen, 2017). Another benefit associated with this provision is that Americans have been able to receive health cover despite suffering from pre-existing medical conditions. Previously, insurance companies were denying Americans health insurance policies owing to their pre-existing conditions or being exposed to life-threatening diseases.
Cons of Health Insurance Coverage Provision
Nonetheless, the increased coverage provision is also associated with certain cons. In this respect, the prices of monthly premiums have considerably risen, especially among plans offee4red through exchanges of the Affordable Care Act's health insurance. To that extent, double-digit increments have been experienced in Bronze, Silver, and Gold health plans in 2016. The rise in the cost of monthly premiums is linked to the fact that 20 million people have been included in the expanded healthcare coverage, whereas the clause of the pre-existing condition remains invalid, and members are forced to cover costs of sick more sick members ( Mojtabai, 2019). The enactment and implementation of this provision have disadvantaged Insurance companies because they are expected to cater to all the costs associated with preventive healthcare services.
Another con of the expanded insurance cover provision is the increasing popularity linked to high-deductible plans of health among Americans, thus increasing their out-of-pocket costs. The ACA portal also experienced numerous challenges and complications occasioned by increased coverage of health insurance, especially during its launch. These complications made it difficult for most people to enroll in the plans since they were unable to sign up through the ACA portal provided. Although such issues have eventually been solved, some people still find the process of enrolment complicated, especially when it comes to signing up for business and family coverage (Kominski, Nonzee & Sorensen, 2017).
Conclusion
In summing up, it is worth acknowledging that both benefits and challenges have characterized the health insurance coverage provision of the Affordable Care Act despite providing a crucial framework for healthcare improvement among Americans.
References
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. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044555
Mojtabai, R. (2019). Insurance Loss in the Era of the Affordable Care Act. Medical Care ,
57 (8), 567-573. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001150
