Social Problem: The
Healthcare Reform
The Healthcare Reform is a title for one of many items on President Obama and his administration’s agenda. Within the Healthcare Reform, is the legislative bill named “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” which became law in March, 2010. At first glance seems to be a solution to our healthcare problem we have in the United States. Instead, this act turned out to be a highly debated topic that splits our legislative into two parties, and our population became more opinionated. The problem that our legislative parties and the population face with this act is the cost of the new Healthcare Reform, the number of people affected, and the overload of the healthcare system.
The Healthcare Reform is a title for one of many items on President Obama and his administration’s agenda. Within the Healthcare Reform, is the legislative bill named “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” which became law in March, 2010. At first glance seems to be a solution to our healthcare problem we have in the United States. Instead, this act turned out to be a highly debated topic that splits our legislative into two parties, and our population became more opinionated. The problem that our legislative parties and the population face with this act is the cost of the new Healthcare Reform, the number of people affected, and the overload of the healthcare system.
The Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act is a successful law that is implemented and many
Americans have benefited. The act is successful for forbidding medical
insurance company from discriminating seniors, adults, young adults and
children with “Pre-existing Condition (PCIP).” According to HealthCare.gov, the
new pre-existing condition insurance plan is defined by the following, “Pre-Existing
Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) program-- to make health insurance available to
millions of Americans denied coverage by private insurance companies because of
a pre-existing condition. Coverage for people living with such
conditions as diabetes, asthma, cancer, and HIV/AIDS has often been priced out
of the reach of most Americans who buy their own insurance, and this has
resulted in a denial of coverage for millions. The Pre-Existing Condition
Insurance Plan is designed to address these challenges by offering
comprehensive coverage at a reasonable cost (HealthCare.gov)”. Patients with
existing condition will no longer be paying all expenses in full out of their
own pockets, and will no longer stress over being discriminated. According to
the statistics on HealthCare.org, nearly 50,000 patients will have some kind of
medical insurance supported by either state or federal programs. In addition,
PCIP includes a subdivision clause, which allows young adults up to the age of
26 years old to continue to be supported onto their parents’ existing medical
insurance. According a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics; showed,
over 2.5 million young adults under some kind of medical insurance from the
state or federal government. In addition, Samuel
Shomaker, a Medical doctor, and the author of “Preparing
for Health CareReform: Ten Recommendations for Academic Health Centers,
proved, “PPACA
will ensure that 93% of Americans have health insurance (Shomaker, 555)”. This
is only the introduction to this Healthcare Reform, and yet more that 50,000
pre-existing patients; more than 2.5 million young adults, and 93% of Americans
have already benefited by having health insurance under the new health law.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a successful law that
is implemented and many Americans benefited, however the cost of this act is
proven to be highly significant. Eric G. Neilson, author of the journal, “the
Debate Over Health Care Reform: Houston, We Have a Problem, claimed, “To pay for
insurance reform, we must either accept real reductions in health care costs or
be willing to pay higher taxes or higher copayments for low-value clinical
services, or some combination of all three (Neilson, 2849)”. Since, many
patients in the United States with Pre-existing Condition are now allowed to be
insured, but patients will be paying an amount cost when patients are visiting,
checking up, or to be treated. In addition, medical insurance companies, such
as the major hospital medical insurance group like Kaiser Permanente or Mercy, will
have to find ways to compensate the cost to their operation since the law
required medical insurance companies to subsidize their cost. By deferring cost
from the general operation to subsidize medical insurance, patients will see an
increase to copayments and a decrease in services. On similar note, the
increased amount of newly accepted patients in the medical insurance companies,
overcrowding and increase of workload will continue to put stress in the
emergency department throughout the nation. According to Samuel Shomaker, a
Medical doctor, and the author of “Preparing for
Health CareReform: Ten Recommendations for Academic Health Centers,” outlined,
“Before
the passage of PPACA, the consensus was that the United States would face a
shortage of between 100,000 and 200,000 physicians by 2020.4 The increased demand
for services created by 32M new insurance beneficiaries will exacerbate this
shortage considerably (Shomaker, 555)”. Prior to the law our medical system is
at a shortage of physicians and nurses. With the new law, the shortage of
medical doctors and nurses is stretched even thinner. Hence, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will
continue to be costly for patients, healthcare system and on our economy. Most
importantly our healthcare system will have an overwhelming and a heavier load
for physicians and all medical staff.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is now law and our future follows the course that set forth by this act, no matter it is worth it or not. Since, Samuel Shomaker proved 93% of Americans have health insurance due to the new law, and claimed the medical system will have a shortage of physicians. Hence, the future priority of our healthcare system is to ensure fully staffed and well trained physicians. According to Samuel Shomaker, he recommends a similar solution to this problem, “Recommendation 2: AHCs must look for ways both to expand the number of physicians who are being trained and to shorten the time needed to produce fully certified doctors more quickly (Shomaker, 556)”. This recommendation does not mean our society must produce physicians with the minimum qualification for a doctor. Instead, this recommendation suggests that we must find a much more productive way to produce physician faster, but with the maximum qualifications and knowledge that can ensure definite patient care. In addition, it is better to create facilities that are in use for actual patients to be “teaching health centers” for physicians during their residency. In this case, a particular medical system can be staffed by well trained physicians and intern physicians. In result, intern physicians can be promoted into an environment which they are familiar and continue to provide a high quality standard for patients within the same medical system.
The Healthcare Reform is a multi-level, complex topic that ordinary citizen will not understand to the fullest. This blog touched on the basic topic that affects every individual in the United States, no matter what race, color, gender or status. It is clear that the basic of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is to provide medical insurance for the uninsured individual. In addition, the blog covered the positives of this act and yet negative that affects all individual. However, the multi-level complex topic that I did not cover in this blog is the in depth cost to different types of medical insurance companies, and how each company can affect the treatment of each individual. In conclusion, this is an introductory blog on the Healthcare Reform. There will be more in depth information about the Healthcare Reform, such as the historical information; another in depth view of cutting edge solution to accommodate the number of new patients; and what different roles that the federal and the state government played. These are topics for the upcoming blogs, and by the end of the fifth blog, readers should be able to fully understand the Healthcare Reform that is appointed by Obama Administration.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is now law and our future follows the course that set forth by this act, no matter it is worth it or not. Since, Samuel Shomaker proved 93% of Americans have health insurance due to the new law, and claimed the medical system will have a shortage of physicians. Hence, the future priority of our healthcare system is to ensure fully staffed and well trained physicians. According to Samuel Shomaker, he recommends a similar solution to this problem, “Recommendation 2: AHCs must look for ways both to expand the number of physicians who are being trained and to shorten the time needed to produce fully certified doctors more quickly (Shomaker, 556)”. This recommendation does not mean our society must produce physicians with the minimum qualification for a doctor. Instead, this recommendation suggests that we must find a much more productive way to produce physician faster, but with the maximum qualifications and knowledge that can ensure definite patient care. In addition, it is better to create facilities that are in use for actual patients to be “teaching health centers” for physicians during their residency. In this case, a particular medical system can be staffed by well trained physicians and intern physicians. In result, intern physicians can be promoted into an environment which they are familiar and continue to provide a high quality standard for patients within the same medical system.
The Healthcare Reform is a multi-level, complex topic that ordinary citizen will not understand to the fullest. This blog touched on the basic topic that affects every individual in the United States, no matter what race, color, gender or status. It is clear that the basic of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is to provide medical insurance for the uninsured individual. In addition, the blog covered the positives of this act and yet negative that affects all individual. However, the multi-level complex topic that I did not cover in this blog is the in depth cost to different types of medical insurance companies, and how each company can affect the treatment of each individual. In conclusion, this is an introductory blog on the Healthcare Reform. There will be more in depth information about the Healthcare Reform, such as the historical information; another in depth view of cutting edge solution to accommodate the number of new patients; and what different roles that the federal and the state government played. These are topics for the upcoming blogs, and by the end of the fifth blog, readers should be able to fully understand the Healthcare Reform that is appointed by Obama Administration.
Work Cited
Neilson,
E. (2009). The debate over health care reform: Houston, we have a problem . Personal Perspectives, 119(1 2849-2850. Retrieved from http://www.jci.org/articles/view/40995/pdf
Shomaker,
S. (2011). Preparing for health care reform: Ten recommendations for academic
health centers.Academic
Medicine , 46(5), 555-557. Retrieved from http://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/Fulltext/2011/05000/Commentary__Preparing_for_Healtcar e_Reform__Ten.11.aspx
Cohen,
R., & Martinez, M. (2011, December). 2.5
million young adults gain health insurance due to the affordable care act. Retrieved from http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2011/YoungAdultsACA/ib.shtml
