Applied Sciences

HA525 Unit 4 Discussion

Using as reference:

Title: The Law of Healthcare Administration 

Edition: 8th (2017) 

Author: Showalter 

Publisher: Health Administration Press 

Book ISBN: 978-1567938760 

Chapter 3: Health Reform, Access to Care, and Admissions and Discharge 

Discuss the following in not less than 200 words:

 

Reforming the United States healthcare system has not been easy. Many have tried and failed. After completing the assigned reading for this week, you will find that the arduous task has been undertaken in the past, only to find that a consensus could not be reached by Congress. As such, the recent passing of this law is an incredible accomplishment, but the hard work is hardly over.

Presently, the United States government, in conjunction with both the public and private healthcare sectors, is working toward implementing the law.

For this week, please review the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)   of your textbook and formulate an initial post with the following criteria:

  • In your own words, discuss the passing of the ACA. What was the intent of reforming health care at the time law passed? Provide details on the issues that this law addressed.
  •  Discuss the current state of the ACA. What has changed?  Have the legal challenges to the ACA been successful?  Why or why not? Provide specific examples of challenges that were successful and/or failed.  
  • Finally, what is the future of the ACA?  How is our current political (Congress) addressing the issues facing you in your role as a health administrator? 

In two different paragraph with no less than 75 words give your personal opinion to Brenda Newcomb and  Mary Harris 

Brenda Newcomb 

The ACA is an all-inclusive reform of healthcare that was passed into law by Obama in March 2010. The law of ACA was planned to expand coverage for health insurance to millions of American people who were uninsured. The ACA also extended eligibility for Medicaid and it developed a marketplace for health insurance. The Affordable Care Act stops companies that provide insurance from refusing coverages due to conditions that are pre-existing and does require plans in covering lists of extremely important health benefits. Families who have low income will be able to qualify for additional savings for health insurance plans relating to an insurance payment tax credit and reductions of sharing the cost. The ACA was planned for reducing the costs of health insurance for qualified individuals. The act includes tax credit premiums and reductions of sharing the cost in helping to lower costs for people and families (Kenton, 2019).

In May 2019, the United States Representatives passed a legislation called the omnibus, for bolstering the ACA and lowering prescription drug prices. The bill is planned for safeguard protection for individuals who had preexisting health conditions and in lowing the prices of prescription drugs (Keith, 2019). In 2018, a hearing decision by Judge OConner made a firm decision relating to ACA. The judge ruled that ACA was unconstitutional since Congress reduced the penalty that required people that did not have health insurance in paying a fine.  Although the law of tax did not unlock the individuals sanctioned itself, it did, however, had a penalty of $0 (Zhou, 2019).

Keith, K. (2019). House passes legislation to strengthen the ACA. Retrieved from

Kenton, W. (2019). Affordable care act (ACA). Retrieved from

, L. (2019). The latest legal challenge to the affordable care act, explained. Retrieved from

Mary Harris 

1. Affordable Care Act of 2010 – A group of laws that was strategically created to provide insurance coverage to “ALL” Americans regardless of their pre-existing condition(s), their income status without limitations, while improving quality and education and curbing healthcare cost.

Here are some of the provisions, according to NCSL, 2011:

  • Fraud/abuse
  • Minimum coverage for preventive service
  • Tax Credits to employers with less than 25 employees
  • A requirement for health plans to report medical loss ratio
  • Expansion of CHIP
  • Programs to get a deeper look into the effectiveness of quality of care.

2. Current State and the change:

The Republicans are vigilant in trying to repeal the ACA. There are attempts made, that put Law is in serious jeopardy because of the election in 2016 (Showalter, 2017), and this is due to the majority of both houses where the Ruplicians were the majority.

 Legal challenges have not been successful because, in 2019, the Fifth Circuit Court heard arguments in the case of Texas v. Azar where a lawsuit was brought by approximately 18 State Attorney General and endorsed  (Vox, 2019) by Mr. Trump’s Administration. The decision was determined the ACA was unconstitutional since the penalty which required everyone who did not carry health insurance pay a fine was waived.  Legal experts said the argument did not hold water (too weak), therefore it would not stand up against an appeal.

3. Future of ACA:

As we know Mr. Trump has never been in favor of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and there has been several attempts to repeal and replace since he has taken office that have been unsuccessful. Despite those attempts, the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is still improving access to health insurance for more than 20 million Americans through the expansion of Medicaid. Several critical elements of the law still service the growing needs of older adults from the closing the Medicare Prescriptions gap in the elimination of cost-sharing deductibles or copay for preventive health services.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be quite valuable  (Loria, 2019) to the public. At this moment there isn’t a better alternative, and if some of us, if not all, will remember the good ( don’t shoot me down. I know it is not perfect) that has come out of the creation of this law, the future will seem even brighter, prosperous and very beneficial. I know this is positive thinking on my part. No one really knows the future of this law, due to the many variables that are involved.

Mary

References

Showalter, J. (2017). The Law of Healthcare Administration. Eight Edition: Healthcare Press, Chicago, Illinois

States Implement Health Reform, (2011). Retrieved from

The Latest Legal Challenge to the Affordable Care Act, Explained (2019). Retrieved from

Loria, K. (2019). The Future of the ACA. Retrieved from

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