Please answer with a full paragraph each post (5 people ). Cite your work and check your grammar and spelling. This is a discussion board.

1-Amy’s post

The Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010 with 3 primary goals, to make healthcare coverage available and more affordable to individuals. This law provides people with subsidies (tax credits) that will lower costs per household if their income is lower than a certain percentage of the federal poverty level, expansion of the medicare/medicaid program, and better quality of care at a lower premium.

Insurance companies cannot deny or charge more for pre-existing conditions, dependents can remain on their parent's policies until age 26, insurance companies cannot cancel a policy based on employer misinformation, and lifetime and annual limits cannot be set if the expense is considered an essential health benefit and preventative care (i.e. shots, screenings) are covered at no cost to the insured.

2-Rachel’s post

Hello everyone,

The Affordable Care Act, also known as ACA, was intended to complete several steps, including tax-exemption requirements and regulations, Medicare and Medicaid provisions for fraud and abuse, and reimbursement guideline improvements in relation to positively resulted patient quality of care (Nowicki, 2022). Hospital systems and providers are encouraged to not only improve all aspects of quality of care, but also to improve patient outcomes short and long term.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also known as CMS, made changes to bundled payments (Harris, 2014). If healthcare systems reduced hospital readmission rates and lower the rate of hospital-acquired conditions, such as pneumonia, CMS would increase their reimbursement rate for Medicare patients. The ACA also encouraged the creation of accountable care organizations, also known as ACO. This organization collaborates different healthcare providers with the directing of giving quality patient care and share cost savings for Medicare patients.

3-Carlee’s post

Mergers are when hospitals buy out other hospitals and merge the facilities to one. This takes out competition for the health facility. This can cause a higher price for services because patients will not be able to go elsewhere. Some mergers do create more efficiency and therefore are more profitable. Mergers can be used for good and also be used to just make more of a profit. Hospitals are not allowed to merge if it is just to eliminate competition, it has to be proven that the care provided will improve.

Mergers and acquisitions are similar but a merger is when 2 parties that are equal become one new company. Acquisitions are when one company completely takes over another. Mergers and acquisitions should not affect the quality of care provided because in order to merge in the first place, they have to show that this will increase the quality of care for the community.

4-Heather’s post

The basic elements of mergers and acquisitions is healthcare cost containment, effects of economic downturn, and healthcare providers to be prepared for anticipated changes from health reform legislation. The mergers and acquisitions have procompetitive effects with the economy, which helps with the cost. Mergers have the ability to help the competitive with other facilities cost and quality.

The mergers and acquisition, I believe do have an effect on the quality of care provided as it is a competitive system. Seeing as this is to be done to benefit in profit but not to raise the prices above competitive market. While the merge and acquisitions are government regulated, I believe that has also has an effect on the quality of care as well, with the government not being an expert in the healthcare service. I think the market competition within the healthcare setting is a better way to evaluate for the merge rather than relying on the government’s regulations.

5- Professor’s post (Question for me)

Genesis,

Did all states accept the Medicaid expansion effort? If not, should they be made to do so?