medicaid and middle class

LEGISLATIVE ACTION 7

Legislative Action in Health

Brittany Ranck

Rasmussen College

Author’s Note: This paper is being submitted on Sunday, April 9th, 2017 for Laura De La Cruz class Healthcare planning and policy management.

Legislative Action in Health

Part I

The health care sector has been awash with the various health policies aimed at benefiting the citizens of the United States. One of the policies in the area of health and which shall form the backbone of the discussion is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Manchinkati, Caraway, and Parr et. al. (2011) observed that the officiating of the Act was the signing of the same by President Barrack Obama on 23rd March 2017. The authors highlighted that the Act brought about changes in the health system after the Medicaid and the Medicare. The Responsible Reform (n.d.) added that the policy aimed at making sure that the American citizens received the health care that they could afford, and that which was quality health care.

The Responsible Reform (n.d.) as revealed by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) highlighted that there was the full payment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Act where there would be the provision of coverage to a significant section of the American citizens amounting to 94% of them while still within the set limit. According to this source, the Act comprised of nine sections that sought to ensure that there was a sense of reform in the health care system. Feldman, Buysse and Hubner et. al. (2015) outlined that some of the purposes of the Act was to ensure that there was a reduced number of the American citizens who were not under any form of insurance and ensure the affordability of the health care and health insurance. Also, the Act designed to ensure that there was increased results and performance of the health care system.

However, as Selker and Wesser (2014) highlighted, the embracing of the Act was not entirely automatic. According to the authors, there were a lot of political rumblings before the enactment of the Act. The extent to which the political divide remained in disarray was something not experienced in quite a long time. The main bone of contention was "to what extent the nation should expand healthcare coverage to 30-plus million currently uninsured citizens" (Selker & Wesser 2014). The authors added that there was a view of the legislation as one of those that had experienced a lot of challenging in the history of American. One of the reasons for this resistance was because there was a regard of the Act as an experiment that sought to "portray the American citizens as the guinea pigs in the research facility cages" (Selker & Wesser 2014).

The other viewpoint of the Patient Protection and Affordable Act was that with its implementation, there was a minimal degree of consideration for the unique needs that children might have. Feldman, Buysse and Hubner et al. (2015) outlined that the children and youths with special needs or dealing with disabilities are the lots that were likely to experience the benefits of the Act due to their high use of health care. Selker and Wesser (2014) described the Affordable Care Act as one of the most expansive and innovative ventures ever pursued by the country, as it sought to cover a significant section of the American citizens. Besides, it ensured that the healthcare system was economically sustainable to ensure that the citizens experienced the full benefits of the healthcare sector.

With this Patient Protection and Affordable Act, the employees of Desmon Mills sought to benefit. They shall rest assured that there is the catering of their health needs by their government.

Part II

Memorandum

TO: The Supervisor

CC: Head of Department

From: Human Resource Manager

Date: 10/4/2017

SUBJECT: Patient Protection and Affordable Act

This memo is with regards to the Patient Protection and Affordable Act. The Act best coincides with the facility for myriad reasons. First things first, most of the employees do not have insurance covers due to their meager earnings that render them incapable of affording one. Therefore, with this Act, the health needs of the employees would be covered by the government, where the employees would be able to access quality care taking into consideration the aspect of affordability.

As there is a clear stipulation in the facility's strategic statement, one of the core values is ensuring the well-being of the employees. This particular legislation aims at improving the health needs of the citizens. With the improvement in the access to health care, there is the likelihood of the improvement of the well-being of the employees. The Act is good for the business operation. With most of the health needs catered for, the employees will work having peace of mind knowing that there would be a resolution of their health needs. The company also gets to save on costs as there is the reduced burden of having to cater to the employees' insurance needs. It is worth noting that the Act is in line with the ethics of the facility which is promoting human dignity through the provision of health care.

References

Feldman H., Buysse C & Hubner L. et. al. (2015). "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs." Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Vol. 36 Issue 3: 207-217. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387205/

In Selker, H. P., & In Wasser, J. S. (2014). The Affordable Care Act as a National Experiment: Health Policy Innovations and Lessons

Responsible Reform. "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." Retrieved from https://www.dpc.senate.gov/healthreformbill/healthbill04.pdf.