The enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare took place on March 23, 2010. As Obamacare in St. Cloud, FL advisors we know that it was the most monumental overhaul of the US health care system since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is widely famous as the signature domestic accomplishment of the former United States President Barack Obama.
Call us at 407-344-1228 or email us at [email protected] for your FREE Obamacare in St. Cloud, FL Consultation.
Most people have a misconception that the major focus of Affordable Care Act is to increase the number of people insured in the United States of America and that this act fails to focus on other more important factors. Contrary to this assumption, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has changed the perception and views of people towards health care.
When the former United States President signed the legislation, the following things immediately came into effect:
- Small businesses earned a tax credit of 35 percentof their premium payments for workers.
- The imposition of 10 percentexcise tax on indoor tanning services.
- Reimbursement of early retiree health insurancetill December 31, 2011for all businesses that provided health care facilities to their employees
- A$250 refundfor those who had to pay some part of the gap of Medicare Part D Prescription Drug coverage (the “donut hole”)
- Children can stay on their parent’s insurance until the age of 26.
- The insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions
- Health care departments can neither drop people when they fall ill nor can create lifetime coverage limits.
- If the insurance company is at fault then it is required to cover 100 percent of preventive services.
The three main goals of Obamacare are to increase the number of people insured, improve the quality of care, and decrease the high costs of health care. Here we will discuss the progress of all three in detail:
1. Increase the Number of People Insured
Before the introduction of Obamacare in St. Cloud Florida, gaps in lack of access to inexpensive private coverage and the public health insurancesystem left millions without health insurance. In 2014, Obamacare began to expand coverage to millions of people who did not have access to insurance previously through the expansion of Medicaid and the establishment of Health InsuranceMarketplaces.
Obamacare in St. Cloud Floridahas resulted in remarkable improvement in health insurancecoverage by spreading out the Medicaid coverage to many low-income people and providing Marketplace allowance or subsidies to people below 400 percent of the poverty level. Obamacare has been successful in taking the number of people insured to over 20 million.
From 2013 to 2016, the number of uninsured nonelderly United States citizens decreased to below 27 million from over 44 million. Around 11.6 millionpeople used state-based exchanges and federal Health InsuranceMarketplace established by Obamacare to purchase their plans.
However, discrimination based on race and ethnicity was evident. In the year 2016, almost 25 percent of Hispanics lacked health insurancefollowed by 15 percent of African-Americans, 8.6 percent of whites and 7.5 percent of Asians.
In 2017, the number of uninsured individuals increased by almost seven hundred thousand people. Since the implementation of Obamacare, this was the first major increase in the number of uninsured people.
If we talk about the current situation, from 2018 to 2019, the number of people in the United States who enrolled themselves in the insurance plans designed by the Obamacare decreased by around 4 percent to 8.5 million individuals.
There are several reasons for this decreasing number of uninsured people. One of them is an increased rate of employment, which has resulted in more people benefitting from employer-based health insurance. The recently formed plans are appealing to unemployed individuals who fail to pass the criteria for income-based government subsidies that make plans like Obamacare in St. Cloud, FLmore affordable for everyone.
In 2017, around 45% of uninsured people reported the high cost of insurance as the core reason behind the lack of health coverage. Majority of the population is not able to take advantage of health coverage through a job. Most elderly people did not expand Medicaid and hence deemed ineligible for financial aid for coverage. Some people who pass the criteria for financial assistance under Obamacare in St. Cloud Floridaare unaware that they can get assistance. Undocumented immigrants are also not eligible for Marketplace coverage and Medicaid.
Call us at 407-344-1228 or email us at [email protected] for your FREE Obamacare in St. Cloud, FL Consultation.
2. Improve the Quality of Care
It is important to know three specific programs namely the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP), the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) and the Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBP). These are designed by Obamacare to improve the quality of care.
In October 2014, the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) took effect and its main purpose was to penalize all hospitals ranking in the worst quartile for evaluation of hospital-acquired conditions as per the instructions given by Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) for discharged patients began in October 2012. This program imposed a restriction on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reduce hospital fees when readmission of patients takes place within 30 days for specific acute conditions like pneumonia etc.
In 2013, Obamacare introduced the Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program (HVBP), which intended to focus on providing a better quality of care for Medicare patients by incentivizing acute-care hospitals with payments for up-gradation on a number of quality measures already in practice.
Ways in Which Obamacare Is Improving Quality
Health care quality is increasing quickly due to the introduction of Obamacare in St. Cloud Florida in several ways:
People are healthier after a stay in the hospital and the credit for this improved health care quality goes to Obamacare in St. Cloud Florida. For example, from 2010 to 2013, fifty thousand or even fewer people died because of preventable mistakes and diseases in hospitals.
The introduction of the new rating system “star ratings” for not only healthcare givers but also for health plans has resulted in an increase in knowledge and performance for patients.
With the introduction of new models, it is now easier for people to get more time with their doctor whenever required. Health care models known as “Accountable Care Organizations” and “Primary Care Medical Homes,” provide assistance in health care as per the needs of the patient.
For example, the “Comprehensive Primary Care Model” provides service to about 2.5 million patients in eight states and allows patients to call the doctor’s office at any time without booking an appointment. The doctor looks at the patient’s electronic record before recommending something. This type of easily available contact service can help avoid dangerous and expensive trips to the hospital emergency and prevent normal conditions from turning into something serious.
Obamacare in St. Cloud Floridais the reason behind slow growth in premiums since 2010, because of which people are paying less. This means that the average premium is $1800 lesser than if premium growth is equivalent to its speed from 2000 to 2010.
The dollars that a taxpayer pays are also going toward better investments, which mean lower deficits, increase capacity for investment in bridges, roads, education, and lower taxes.
3. Decrease the High Costs of Health Care
Even when Affordable Care Act was in pipeline, everyone continued to talk about its inability to provide better coverage but no one discussed its ability to reduce high healthcare costs.
The United States Former President, Barack Obama promised to sign the healthcare bill that reduced family health insurance premiums by $2500. He faced criticism from several conservative politicians who along with the government record keeper estimated that healthcare costs under ACA would constitute 20.2%of GDP and would reach around $4.14trillion.
A quick comparison between the years 2010 and 2017 shows a decrease in Medicare bill by 10 percent, a massive reduction in total spending for Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid of $250 billion below expectations and a difference of $170 billion in the employer-sponsored insurance cost.
One of the most direct and quick methods in which the Affordable Care Act generated savings was by reducing Medicare Advantage (MA) payments and provider payment updates. According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, payments to Medicare Advantage plans were 14 percenthigher than the cost of covering similar inheritors under the traditional Medicare program.
Conclusion
The introduction of Obamacare in St. Cloud Floridagave rise to serious debates among some opponents of the law who argued that it was not a requirement and proper investment because uninsured people already had sufficient access to care.
With the passage of time, people started arguing about the drawbacks of Obamacare in St. Floridasuch as the insurance coverage given to people fails to provide adequate protection against high costs.
Those residents of the United States who are getting health insurancethrough Obamacare are less likely to report that high cost is the reason for the delay in getting care compared to people who are already insured. The truth is that creating state marketplaces and providing Medicaid coverage have not only reduced the number of United State citizens who are uninsured but it has also significantly improved access to healthcare for those who availed insurance.
Call us at 407-344-1228 or email us at [email protected] for your FREE Obamacare in St. Cloud, FL Consultation.