| | Affordable Care Act Knutsford Thompson 18 April 2017 Professor: Ashley Bowman Since moving to the United States in 1998, I never had to rely on any insurance company for my medical health need partly because I was a healthy and active teenager. Then I was fortunate to be able to join the military while still in an un-US citizen status, and gain access to the military provided health care system known as Tricare. According to Tricare.com, “TRICARE is the health care program for uniformed service members Includes active duty and retired members of the: U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. and their families around the world.” This program was previous known as CHAMPUS (Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services) approved in 1966. Tricare provide that health care coverage needed for an always expanding Military, they provided Dental, prescription, and some medical surgery services that would be discounted compared to regular insurance company. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often shortened to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and nicknamed Obamacare, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Since its inception, the ACA as drastically lower the number of person who didn’t fill their prescription due to insurance cost, and the cost of medication without insurance. In 2009 prior to the amendment to the ACA, “approximately 25.1 million Americans reported that, during the previous 12 months, they did not fill a prescription because they could not afford it.” (Kennedy & Geneva Wood, 2016) In 2015 National Health Interview Survey, reported a 3.1% drop in the numbers of people who answered “yes” to the question “During the past 12 months, was there any time when you needed a prescription medication but didn’t get it because you couldn’t afford it?” (Kennedy & Geneva Wood, 2016), since the ACA has been implemented with 8.3% reported in 2009. Now that the new president is office they are trying to change the ACA, because they say it doesn’t work, but they have made no head way because they can’t agree in congress that this change is needed, the people who are pushing for the change are the insurance companies and Big name employer since now they must provide health Reference Kennedy, J., & Geneva Wood, E. (2016, October 16). Medication Costs and Adherence of Treatment. AJPH RESEARCH, 106(10), 1804-1807. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2016.303269 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act https://www.tricare.mil/About |
