Politics and Health Policy

The Affordable Care Act (ACA)

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) affirms the universal idea that everybody should access primary health care coverage (Affordable Care Act, 2017). The act sought to provide health care to more than thirty million Americans who were already uninsured. It also offers federal subsidies and expands Medicaid to help lower- and middle-income families purchase private health insurance. The Affordable Care Act has two key objectives: first, it sought to extend health insurance coverage. Before its adoption, many Americans were uninsured or underinsured, causing health care to deteriorate. Institutionalization of the act was expected to rule out all forms of disparities in healthcare settings.

Debates and Opposition

The Affordable Care Act has attracted heated debates from the Congress in an attempt to scrap it. The Congress argues that the Affordable Care Act has increased government spending and should, therefore, be scraped off and replaced with a better health reform. Besides, they say that it increases the cost of health coverage. According to Pear(2012), estimates show that in 2013 the coverage exchanges were cheaper when compared to 2014 in the post-Obamacare era. The introduction of this law met opposition from people who argued that it was not necessary because Americans had adequate access to healthcare (Sussman, 2016). Currently, many Americans are opposed to the move to repeal Obamacare due to its numerous provisions. Thousands of Americans have come in to oppose the repeal of the law. However, despite the problems raised, the merits of this right overruns the demerits.

References

Affordable Care Act. (2017, September 25). Retrieved October 14, 2017, from https://www.cbo.gov/topics/health-care/affordable-care-ac

Pear, R. (2012, July 7). Health Law Critics Prepare to Battle Over Insurance Exchange Subsidies. The New York Times.

Sussman, A. L. ( 2016). Burden of Health Care Costs Moves to the Middle Class. Wall Street Journal.