One of the Major Concerns of the Affordable Care Act, Essay Example

One of the major concerns of the Affordable Care Act is that it creates of a breach of Federal rights and responsibilities.  The concern in this regard is that the mandate set by the Federal government for individuals to have healthcare is something that should be left to the states to decide.  In creating legislation that mandates the decision, the Federal government has effectively removed this power from the state governments.  This seems to be a consideration of many in regards to the ability that the Federal government has to dictate healthcare issues to the public.  This is, in a sense, a critique of the overlapping concerns of the Federal and state governments on the matter and a question of who has the legal right to impede on the decisions made by private individuals.  In this sense, the underlying overreach of the government into the lives of private citizens is a fundamental concern of the act.

This general mandate from the Federal government also provides concerns regarding the costs involved with creating legislation at the national level regarding the public’s health.  This micromanaging can have the effect of both overspending and creating a lack of efficiency and flexibility in the ability for healthcare providers to apply specific coverage.  In this sense, despite the application of the legislation in the hopes of reducing costs, it could have the overall effect of increasing the costs for providers due to the expanding need to provide coverage to those whose prior plans are no longer in effect.  This could in effect create an imbalance in the need for people to establish healthcare plans at an affordable rate.  This is primarily due to the increasing costs in healthcare that the plan would bring through the reworking of the established system of finance.

This gives further consideration of one underlying concern of the application of Federal mandates regarding the act.  This presents one of the main issues in regards to the overreach that the Federal government might take in these considerations.  The fact that the government is able to dictate the fact that these individuals must conform to standards that have been put into place presents an underlying ethical concern.  This is in regards to the capacity of government sanctioned healthcare standards.  If governments are able to have authority in this realm, then the ability for them to make decisions regarding issues such as assisted suicide, a patient’s right to die, and abortion in the private lives of individuals.  This presents an underlying moral dilemma in regards to the ability of the government to dictate the health decisions of private citizens without impunity.

One of the main issues underlying the presentation of these laws is that the implementation of healthcare reform laws disregard the need for competitive markets between healthcare insurance providers.  This argument arises in correlation to the need to promote competition within a capitalist society.In a market with a large amount of government oversight, the ability for these companies to compete is impeded, and the availability of the best plans is essentially reduced due to the need of the firms to conform to specific standards rather than to provide the best service.  Through government involvement, competitive advantages are essentially depreciated and the ability for these firms to provide worthwhile packages due to standards prevents them doing business in an efficient way.