Reference no: EM131446690
Healthcare Essay
The United States has been built on a deeply rooted belief system which exemplifies its democratic system's ability to adjust and adapt as necessary. As population continues to grow, so do the needs of the citizens and the government's obligation to make the necessary adjustments. One of the most pressing issues facing U.S. citizens today is thehealthcare reform.
One current issue being debated about the American healthcare system is the accessibility of affordable healthcare to lower class families. Two competing solutions to this problem are improving Medicaid for low income Americans or attempting to force private companies to make healthcare affordable across the board.
One year after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was ratified, the U.S. was consideredto have one of the least effectivehealthcare systems in the world according to a 2014 Bloomberg index which analyzes factors such as health-care spending per capita and relative spending as a share of gross domestic product. (Du & Lu, 2016).Presently, % of American households are categorized as being in lower middle class and lower class families. The affordability and accessibility of U.S. healthcare is one of the largely disputed topics concerning American citizens today. Two possible solutions to this problem are a State exchange programs and the further expansion of Medicare.
Two possibly solutions to this problem are a State exchange programs and the less popular repeal and replacement of Obamacare.
Since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare),
One downside to state exchange programs increased the costs of health insurance premiums.
Out of these two options, the preferable choice would be to improve Medicaid for low income Americans. Forcing private companies to make healthcare more affordable across the board would not be a good idea because it would limit their abilities for healthy competition. The medical field is never going to be a truly open free market because there may at times always be some lack in the element of choice, but to restrict this any more than it already is would be detrimental to the economic aspect of it.
While many law makers(specify what level/who..democrats) and state politicians favor the Medicaid expansion, more favor a amendments rather than repealing and replacing Obamacare as a whole.
The preferred solution would have to be the
If the federal government would promote states to expand Medicaid coverage, one of the major goals of the Affordable Care Act would be met. Working to ensure that Medicaid is not affected by budget cuts, and improving the Medicaid system so that more caretakers would be incentivized to accept it as a form of payment would greatly aid in this problem.
Allowing people the option to purchase Medicare or Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace would also help level the playing field. This would allow middle class families, many of which feel that they do not have accurate representation over many of these issues, to be supported by the same institutions that are provided for the lower class.
Budget reconciliation.
The tenth amendment of the United States Constitution states that all powers not granted to the federal government are reserved for the states and the people. State governments are designed after the federal government, and many local governments also follow suit. With the passing of the Affordable Care Act, American healthcare has become a federal institution. This has so far proven to be an inefficient answer to the problem, as so many other aspects of healthcare are still more strongly affected at the state and local level.The State exchange programs allow individual state governments to receive federal grants
The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reserves the powers not granted to the federal government to that of the states and the people. This allows states and local governments to ability to establish and maintain state marketplaces or exchanges. "ObamaCare's state Health Insurance Exchanges" (https://obamacarefacts.com/state-health-insurance-exchange/). States receive federal grants to fund these health insurance exchanges. A downside to Obamacare's state health insurance exchanges, as see in Kentucky, was that it increased the costs of insurance premiums by?
In order for any of these solutions to function properly, this gap needs to be bridged as soon as possible. Either the federal government needs to relinquish more control over these aspects of healthcare to the state and local levels, or the states need to more efficiently get in line with the new federally mandated system.
Although the Affordable Care Act has managed to benefit a large number of Americans since its enactment, there are still many issues that need to be addressed. The federal government still holds the most power over it, and this is not working well due to the amount of time that it seems to take Congress to get anything done. Only time will tell if this system is going to solve these issues or make them worse.
Bibliography
Du, L., & Lu, W. (2016). US Healthcare System One of Least Efficient. PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News,764(1), 6-6. doi:10.1007/s40274-016-3455-9 Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40274-016-3455-9
How Does U.S. Healthcare Rank Around the World? (2016, December 20). Retrieved from https://www.kymedicalmalpractice.com/u-s-healthcare-rank-around-world/
Jost, Timothy Stoltzfus Jost and Harold Pollack. The Century Foundation. n.d. 18 November 2016.
Lenze, Timothy O and Mirya Holman. American Governmenr. Florida Atlantic University Department of Political Science, n.d.