WEEK 3 DISCUSSION

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School

Western Governors University *

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Course

6050C

Subject

Medicine

Date

Apr 3, 2024

Type

docx

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Uploaded by leslie07508

MAIN POST Formerly known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and referred to as Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the comprehensive healthcare reform that was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama in March 2010. It comprises several healthcare policies meant to increase access to health insurance for millions of Americans who do not currently have it. The law expanded Medicaid eligibility, created health insurance exchanges, mandated that Americans purchase or otherwise obtain health insurance, and prohibited insurance companies from denying coverage due to preexisting conditions (Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA), 2022). Following his election in 2016, then-President Donald Trump announced that the US should postpone "the implementation of any provision or requirement of the (Patient Protection and Affordable Care) Act that would impose a fiscal burden on any State," signaling the start of efforts to repeal and replace the ACA. President Biden issued an executive order in 2021 directing federal agencies to investigate five areas: preexisting conditions, enrollment barriers, policies undermining the Health Insurance Marketplace, and affordability. The order focused on the "rules and other policies that limit Americans' access to health care." The Inflation Reduction Act, which was approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, was signed into law by Biden on August 16, 2022. This means that individuals enrolled in the ACA will now receive financial assistance through 2025 rather than 2022. Additionally, the Act's expansion of eligibility would allow more middle-class citizens to receive premium assistance (Kenton, 2022). The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had well-documented effects on insurance coverage levels in the US, helping to increase access to healthcare services, particularly for low-income and people of color, and bringing the number of uninsured people down to historically low levels (Blumenthal et al., 2020). Governments use the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) process to determine and assess public policy by quantifying the outcomes. It helps them see how their actions impact their re-election. In the 2018 mid-term elections, Republican candidates were talking less about health care after their failed attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). They focused more on taxes and immigration in their ads. Democratic candidates made health care a central part of their campaigns and a focus of their political ads, highlighting popular provisions in the ACA, including protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. About 34 Republican legislators who voted to repeal the ACA lost their seats to Democrats due to not supporting the ACA. Several legislators recanted their support to repeal the ACA in order to attain votes in their favor for the 2018 elections. Analyzing the voter’s views is critical for legislative leaders when it comes to national policies. For example, in relation to the ACA, the fact that more than half of Americans are either enrolled in Medicaid through their own insurance or a family member or close friend explains why, even among conservatives, they are significantly more likely to view Medicaid as important and to support increases in spending. This finding also helps to explain why attempts to repeal the

Affordable Care Act always receive a strong public backlash (Persad, 2015). In this case, the decisions made by the legislators affected the voter’s views. References Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). (2022, March 16). About the Affordable Care Act. HHS.gov. https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/index.html Kenton, W. (2022, September 23). Affordable Care Act (ACA): what it is, key features, and updates. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/affordable-care-act.asp Blumenthal, D., Collins, S. R., & Fowler, E. (2020). The Affordable Care Act at 10 years — its coverage and access provisions. The New England Journal of Medicine, 382(10), 963–969. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmhpr1916091 Persad, G. (2015). Priority Setting, Cost-Effectiveness, and the Affordable Care Act. American Journal of Law & Medicine, 41(1), 119–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098858815591511

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WEEK 3 DISCUSSION

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