Current American Healthcare Issue

Before the execution of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), most Americans lacked access to public health insurance, implying that a large proportion needed health insurance coverage. The ACA began expanding coverage to millions of uninsured citizens by increasing Medicaid’s mandate and enabling the growth of Health Insurance marketplaces. To openly understand the aspects of the uninsured, it is important to point out that most uninsured persons cited huge, high-priced cost of coverage as the core reason behind lack of health insurance coverage (Garfield & Damico, 2016). In 2015, studies provided that about 46% of adult populations decried inabilities to acquire coverage since the cost was too high. Most of these individuals had no access as employment schemes failed to offer coverage. On the same note, most of the affected subsist below the national poverty line and therefore cannot access health insurance via the Medicaid program. Trump’s administration has compelled Congress to repeal the ACA in favor of a new legislation raising uproar among the American populace and has led to great debate on the current as well as future trajectory of the American Healthcare System.

Current American Healthcare Issue

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been sufficient towards reaching out to people living in poverty who are essentially ineligible to gain financial support under the federal health program. Individuals who stay uninsured, mainly from low-income families usually have about one income earner in the family. The limited availability of public insurance coverage means that such adults have a greater likelihood of remaining uninsured in comparison to children. Additionally, it is critical to note that persons eligible for financial assistance in accordance to the ACA often lack information necessary to acquire assistance. Many also still find it expensive to seek medical assistance as coverage is essentially costly. Other interrelated aspects are related to immigrant issue. Studies indicate that immigrants without official documentation ineligible to access services offered through Medicare or Medicaid programs as well as marketplace coverage.

These unfavorable traits can be radically addressed through healthcare policy that targets low-income households. Evidence points out that Americans lacking insurance coverage do not have access to quality healthcare. Healthcare policy can play a pivotal role in decreasing the number of people without access to healthcare services. For example, studies provide that one in five persons in the country who are uninsured failed to acquire requisite medical services due to cost in 2015. Repeated studies similarly revealed that the uninsured are presented with lower chances of accruing preventative care services for chronic diseases as well as other major health conditions. One can therefore substantiate that the ACA has played influential part in enabling greater populations of the American people access qualified health care.

Trumps presidency has proposed numerous changes aiming at changing a system that has positively transformed the American healthcare system’s image relative to the uninsured. Under the ACA, the uninsured percentages dropped by about half. The reconciliation procedure however, accords the opponents of the progressive law authority to eliminate parts associated with but not confined to insurance subsidies, tax credits, and Medicaid extension. One avenue through which to counter problems imposed by the proposed changes would be to champion for health exchanges at the state level. Employing this tactic might compel states to establish substitute methodologies to the Affordable Care Act via the popular vote process. This can similarly allow states to determine terms within own healthcare plan proposals with little or negligible interference from the national government. Section 1332 of the Act provides that can solicit a waiver towards developing their own distinctive healthcare insurance programs towards diminishing or mitigating impacts on any changes projected on the Obama Care policy (Affordable Care Act) (McMorrow & Polsky, 2016). States would therefore be less reliant on federal government relative to healthcare spending and by extension, gain independence in making own choices on own healthcare system. States may also enact laws capping insurance premiums to affordable levels as determined by mean income levels. This ultimately helps in redefining features of persons needing Medicare as the Constitution requires.

For the six years period that ACA has operated, it resulted in notable and remarkable accomplishments. Rather than remove the law, the inadequacy of the Act’s subsidies to reduce the problem of the uninsured especially among the low-income group ought to be more critically addressed. Both the federal and state laws have to establish guidelines regulating the now vulnerable health insurance market. There is also a considerable need for legislation seeking to extend exemptions to all minority groupings by increasing access to the program.

Reference

Garfield, R., & Damico, A. (2016). The Coverage Gap: Uninsured Poor Adults in States that Do Not Expand Medicaid. Retrieved from http://kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/the-coverage-gap-uninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid/

McMorrow, S. & Polsky, D. (2016). Insurance coverage and access to care under the Affordable Care Act. Retrieved from http://ldi.upenn.edu/brief/insurance-coverage-and-access-care-under-affordable-care-act

Sung, J., Flowers, L., & Dean, O. & Buettgens, M. (2017).  Who’s Gained Affordable Care Act Coverage with Financial Help? Retrieved from http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2017-01/FINAL%20ACA%20TAX%20CREDIT%20FACT%20SHEET%20FOR%20POSTING.pdf