Jonas’ Chapters 11 & 12
In Jonas’ chapter 11 we learn more about The Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Affordable Care Act was made to be a law in March of 2010. It is widely referred to as “Obamacare”. This law has increased the number of people with healthcare coverage and has made significant changes in heath insurance. The Affordable Care Act is known to have its pros and cons.
Some of the Pros of the ACA is the offer of subsidies to people who are less fortunate and couldn’t afford to have healthcare otherwise. Another pro is that people can’t be turned down because of preexisting health issues. There are also Cons to this law. One con is that the cost of health care hasn’t decreased for everyone under the Affordable Care Act, some people don’t quite qualify of the subsidies thus then can still view. Healthcare as unaffordable. Another con is the tax penalty for being uninsured (this not long is a thing). The Affordable Healthcare Act has allowed many families access to affordable healthcare insurance. People still debate whether the ACAs pros outweigh the cons.
As we have talked and discussed before healthcare can be a very political topic. Politics play a major role in healthcare. Inevitably healthcare is political because healthcare is all about power, people, and money. Democrats are known to want government to have more of a say so/hand in healthcare while Republicans want the government to have little to no say in healthcare and for healthcare to be more of a free market situation for people to navigate. The Republicans showed great disfavor towards the ACA and not a single Republican voted to support the passing of this law. Republicans tried to multiple times to repeal and replace the ACA with different laws that ended up failing (The American Healthcare Act (AHCA) and Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA)). Trump’s administration also took legal action against the Affordable Care Act while he was in office.
In Jonas’ chapter 12 we learn about the United States Healthcare System and its trends. We learn about how the Affordable Healthcare Act helped better the United States’ healthcare systems structure. In the book it is mentioned that even if somehow the ACA was repealed or replaced by another law concerning healthcare coverage that most of the ACA’s policies and procedures would most likely stay in place. As I mentioned earlier healthcare is a very political topic and both parties will always have little disagreements concerning pieces and parts of any healthcare law created.
This chapter also brings up the benefits of the mixed healthcare system. In a mixed healthcare system, there is both a public and private sector that can provide people with services. The public side allows lower income families to have access to affordable healthcare while the private sector takes the extra/added pressure off the public sector. A mixed system also allows an option for everyone. The private sector allows people the freedom to pick and choose, allows people to open their own practices to be able to provide services to customers, and helps level out the demand for healthcare services. The public sector is run and regulated by the government which allows price control, healthcare is available to lower income families/people, etc. In a mixed healthcare system both political parties have a side that fits their parties’ preferences. The field of healthcare is ever changing and evolving, we are becoming more aware of issues and how to resolve them on a day-to-day basis. We are constantly coming up with better technology, affordability, prevention tactics, etc.
Goldsteen, R.L., Goldsteen, K., & Goldsteen, B. (2021). Jonas’ Introduction to the U.S. Health care System. Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
I agree with you about politics in healthcare, it is sad that politics will prevail over peoples health. When the ACA came about on the it sounded so good, everyone will be covered, you can chose your doctor, low income areas will have more access to healthcare but it just didn’t seem to stick. What I like to always tell people when looking at policies by the government is yes, it is a great idea and on paper it’s awesome! But how well does the government follow through with a bill after it is passed. After the ACA it turns out my copay went up, I had to change doctors because mine wasn’t in network and sometimes it took months to get an appointment. On paper the ACA looked great, but to me it was not. I like how you pointed out the tax penalty if you did not get insurance coverage. The same bill that was good on paper now hits people with a penalty if they do not seek insurance, kind of crazy to me that if you don’t do something the government tells you to do than they penalize you for it. Another crazy thing to me was all the people in the senate, congress and other government agencies could be exempt for enrolling through ACA, I thought it was a good thing so why were elected officials exempt from following the rules? Just something to think about. I don’t have a good answer to fix the insurance system and I don’t think anyone does in America but there has to be honest and good hearted people out there with the power to make a change. The ACA did help millions of people, I’m not saying it didn’t but there is definite flaws in it. I think this will be a forever ongoing process to make it better for everyone, and when the government comes out with a new bill, read it and make your voice heard by attending city and state councils, calling your rep and voting with what aligns with your financial and health well being.
Catherine,
There are pros to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), especially regarding pre-existing conditions. However, health issues made it difficult for many people to afford insurance. “Before private insurance market rules in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect in 2014, health insurance sold in the individual market in most states was medically underwritten. That means insurers evaluated the health status, health history, and other risk factors of applicants to determine whether and under what terms to issue coverage. To what extent people with pre-existing health conditions are protected is likely to be a central issue in the debate over repealing and replacing the ACA (Claxton et al., 2016).” I thank you for pointing out the Cons of ACA. One of the biggest cons of the ACA is the tax penalty. The ACA now imposes tax penalties on those without insurance who do not qualify for the program. In what ways is this helping people’s healthcare?
Claxton, G., Cox, C., Damico, A., Levitt, L., & Pollitz, K. (2016). Pre-existing conditions and medical underwriting in the individual insurance market prior to the ACA. Menlo Park, CA, 2016, 1-11.