Politics of Health Reform Essay

Discussion 2-Health Policy Politics Reform

The political alliances and positions by party and in the industry

After decades of failed attempts to refurbish the United States health, the enactment of ACA in 2010 was the most significant health reform accomplishment since the passage of Medicaid and Medicare. However, years later, ACA politics are shakier than triumphal, and the law has not escaped debate that surrounded its passage. According to Mclyntre and   Song (2019), the ACA has endured several legislative challenges with Republicans wanting to repeal and replace the laws.   The House has crafted more than fifty bills to repeal the law or amend part of its provisions.

From the time it took office in 2016, the Trump administration has taken numerous actions to weaken the ACA, entailing the termination of funding for cost-sharing reductions and reducing the resources allotted to enrollment education and outreach. Additionally, the Trump government has made it possible for states to alter their Medicaid programs, for instance, by mandating non-disabled individuals to work for them to qualify for a benefit (Mclyntre & Song 2019). Although the Republicans have not succeeded in repealing the ACA,  in 2017,  they repealed the individual mandate,  which is the most detested part of the law. The mandate for an individual to possess health insurance or be penalized remains, but the penalty is presently zero (Levitt, 2020).  Politics of Health Reform Essay.

Financial arguments and the political/ideological arguments about the role of government versus the private sector changes that are intended to increase coverage

The goal of health coverage is to ensure that all citizens get the health services they require without having to suffer the financial hardships when paying for these services. Health coverage is delivered by collaboration between government programs and the private sector. The private health care industry is the largest in the globe paradoxically; the major reason for the big size of the American private care sector is the enormity of the government programs supporting it.  According to Field (2015), the ACA has broadened coverage mainly via market mechanisms.  Individuals who had in the past unable to get insurance as a result of low income or preexisting conditions are now assured access to coverage via a transformed private market and t Medicaid expansion, which is administered by private plans in most states. Through these schemes, the ACA builds on the private-public collaboration in increasing health coverage to Americans.

The central provisions of the ACA; insurance exchanges, the individual mandate, Medicaid expansion, and guaranteed coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions have led to a significant reduction in the number of Americans without health insurance. Additionally, by depending on private insurers to increase access to coverage, the ACA has brought insurance firms sample business opportunities. Private insurance companies currently cover over ten million clients, the majority of whom are purchasers of individual policies on the marketplace exchanges of the ACA. Also numerous of these firms administer benefits for over seven million Medicaid enrollees who have been brought in by ACA’s expansion of the Medicaid program (Field, 2015).

The best way to improve health care coverage for all Americans

Medicare for All or a single-payer plan is the best way to ensure coverage for all Americans. According to Burdys (2019), Medicare for all approach aims at shifting health care arrangements from a private sector, market-based approach to a public sector approach.  Under a single-payer plan, the federal government will administer a program that would offer coverage to all people in the United States. Politics of Health Reform Essay.The program would replace almost all other sources of private health coverage ( insurance provided outside and inside ACA marketplaces and employment-sponsored programs) and the majority of public programs, entailing Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare. The plan will offer comprehensive health care to all American people, despite their income, to have coverage with no out-of-pocket expenses. There will be no insurance premiums, co-payments, or deductibles.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM -FREE PAPER NOW

References

Burdys, G.  (2019). Market-Based Health Care: All Myth, No Reality. Rowman & Littlefield.

Field, R. I. (2015). The Ethics of Expanding Health Coverage through the Private Market. American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, 17(7), 665-671.

Levitt, L. (2020). The Affordable Care Act’s Enduring Resilience. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 45(4), 609-616. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-8255529

Mclyntre, A., & Song, Z. (2019). The US Affordable Care Act: Reflections and directions at the close of a decade. PLoS Medicine, 16(2), e1002752. DOI 10.1215/03616878-8255529

Discussion 2-Health Policy Politics Reform

Read the assignments in preparation for this discussion (see below) . You are encouraged to seek sources beyond the Learning Materials in Week 2 in this assignment.

While Republicans have not been unsuccessful so far in repealing the ACA, they have taken other steps to undermine it and have strongly opposed various Medicare for All proposals pending before Congress.

Democrats have proposed improvements in the ACA, and some have proposed the adoption of a “public” health insurance plan or adoption of a Medicare for All plan.

Using at least 500 words, write an initial post that describes the political alliances and positions by party and in the industry. In your analysis, include the financial arguments and the political/ideological arguments about the role of government versus the private sector changes that are intended to increase coverage. What do you think is the best way to improve health care coverage for all Americans? Why? Politics of Health Reform Essay.

Cite additional sources beyond the Learning Materials (below) for this week.

Required Resources

• Garfield, R., Orgera, K., Kaiser Family Foundation, & Damico, A. (2019, Jan.). The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The Uninsured and the ACA: A Primer: Key Facts about Health Insurance and the Uninsured amidst Changes to the Affordable Care Act (PDF). Executive Summary and Introduction (pages 1 and 2), and Conclusion (page 18).
• Levitt, L. (March 11, 2020). The Affordable Care Act’s Enduring Resilience. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 45(4). August 2020. DOI 10.1215/03616878-8255529 2020 by Duke University Press.
• Commonwealth Fund. (March 2020). The Supreme Court Will Decide the Face of the Affordable Care Act—Again. Retrieved from https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2020/supreme-court-will-decide-fate-affordable-care-act-again.
• Burns, K. (2020, May 6). Trump still wants to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, even as Covid-19 rages. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/5/6/21249786/trump-wants-end-affordable-care-act.
• (2019, May 15). Compare Medicare-For-All and Public Plan Proposals. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/interactive/compare-medicare-for-all-public-plan-proposals/.
• Neuman, T., Pollitz, K., & Tolbert, J. (2018, October 9). Medicare-For-All and Public Plan Buy-In Proposals: Overview and Key Issues. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/report-section/medicare-for-all-and-public-plan-buy-in-proposals-overview-and-key-issues-issue-brief/.
• McDonough, J. (2019, November 23). Shareholders, Stakeholders, and US Healthcare. Health Stew Blog. Retrieved from https://healthstew.com/2019/11/23/shareholders-stakeholders-and-us-health-care/.
• McDonough, J. (2020, February 22). Why Medicare for All Won’t Happen in 2021. Health Stew Blog. Retrieved from https://healthstew.com/2020/02/22/why-medicare-for-all-wont-happen-in-2021/. Politics of Health Reform Essay.