Essay on the Impact of Supreme Court Decision on the Affordable Care Act

For a long time, the American health care system had failed to put the interests of its patients first; millions of those who did not have an insurance cover found it difficult even to pay for the doctors fees and those who had an insurance cover were never sure whether they would be able to use it in the first place, until the inception of Affordable Care Act (ACA). ACA does not usually impose that employers should pay health benefits to their staff. However, eligible employers might incur penalties if they do not make health coverage available for their employees. Some provisions of the Affordable Care Act penalizes employers who do not offer coverage at all or offer coverage that does not satisfy the basic value and affordability standards. Eligible firms covered under this act are those that have at least 50 full-time employees ("APRNS & VETERANS - American Nurses Association", 2016). These are some of the impacts brought about by the enforcement of the Affordable Care Act. Veterans who dedicated much of their lives serving the country deserve quality and affordable health care. However, limiting APRNS from working with the Veterans Health Administration jeopardizes the health of veterans. With the Affordable Care Act in place, APRNS now have the full-service authority to work with the Veterans Health Association to offer affordable and quality health care for the veterans.

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With the implementation of the Act, access to medical care among US citizens has greatly improved. Health insurance coverage soared with more than 10.2 million Americans paying their health insurance premiums and the number of uninsured patients taking a historic reduction. The number of individuals enrolled in MedicAid has also increased, with over 12.3 million additional people enrolling for it on October 2015 compared to October 2013 ("The Washington State Health Care Landscape", 2016).

The impact of the Act; the act has made health care facilities affordable for most of the American citizens who could not afford basic health care. According to an explanation of the ACA by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2010), fewer Americans have difficulties in clearing their medical bills. Patients have also been able to receive quality medical attention with statistics showing that patient harms that result from hospital-induced conditions such as falls and traumas have reduced by 17 percent, saving about 50,000 lives and $120 billion of the taxpayers money (Gorin & Moniz, 2012).

References

APRNS & VETERANS - American Nurses Association. (2016). Rnaction.org. Retrieved 1 October 2016, from http://www.rnaction.org/site/PageNavigator/nstat_take_action_VHA.html

Gorin, S. & Moniz, C. (2012). Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act after the Supreme Court Decision. Health & Social Work, 37(4), 195-196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hls030

The Washington State Health Care Landscape. (2016). Kff.org. Retrieved 2 October 2016, from http://kff.org/health-reform/fact-sheet/the-washington-state-health-care-landscape/