Health Care Reform Act, Research Paper Example

Health Care Reform Act as signed by President Obama was intended to bring about reforms in health care. It was initially proposed to be focused on a program that was publicly implemented in a similar manner as the programs given to the employees in the Federal government as well as the Congress. The reform had the goal of financing healthcare in the country and consequently leading to a drastic reduction of costs associated with health care. At the same time, the Act had the impacts of enhancing quality of life to the people who had no access to healthcare insurance provided by their work place (Reid, 2009, 134-156).

Through the Act, the president pledged a portable coverage which distanced people from the health care plan implemented by their employers. The Act facilitated a choice of independent plan as found fit by the people. One option at their disposal was the government sponsored public option. An alternative involved purchasing independent insurance via exchange. This development facilitated that all people had an access to a health insurance ((Reid, 2009, 94-116).

The Act provided for expansion of Medicaid by Federal government in addition to the provision of subsidies to the people who were unqualified for Medicaid though they had the means of accessing insurance premiums. However, though the Act provided innumerable gains to the people, they feared the Federal government intrusion to the program as they interpreted it to lean to socialized medicine.

One other way of viewing the Act to help in financing healthcare in the United States is through the requirement of insurers in embracing the bigger part of the premium cost, which was estimated at 80% which was diverted to quality improvement and medical care. Immunization as well as screening was to be accorded a full coverage while annual along with lifetime caps were prohibited (Anderson, G. F. P. & Jean-Pierre , 1999, 178-192).

A health care system which would best suit the United States is universal healthcare which is a concept related to healthcare rationing. This type of health care system would facilitate for rationing of cost in which case as more people try to access health care services, a part of the services is paid for by the government. Decisions on health care coverage have a direct implication to costs and consequently, they affect the safety of the patients along with tort reform.

According to the opinion of majority of Americans, there is a malfunction of a health care system and their effectiveness as well as efficiency is in doubt. The economic wellbeing of the people further compounds the problem of accessing the health care services especially for the uninsured. Consequently, health care reform is seen to suffer a complicated puzzle(Anderson, G. F. P. & Jean-Pierre , 1999, 178-192).

A health care system offering universal healthcare will be of great benefit to the uninsured who in most cases have postponed seeking medical attention for thje acute cases upto a point that they turn to be severe (Anderson, G. F. P. & Jean-Pierre , 1999, 178-192). Huge sums of money usually change hands in health care institutions but the the primary care providers get very little of it including the home care workers, nurses as well as the nurses practitioners. A properly implemented health care system offering universal healthcare for all would offer uncountable benefits to the Americans.

Works cited

Anderson, G. F. P. & Jean-Pierre. “Health Spending, Access, and Outcomes: Trends in Industrialized Countries.” Health Affairs 18, 3, 1999.

Reid, T.R. The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care. Penquin Books. 2009.