Health Insurance Articles
Challenges Faced By The Affordable Care Act For Healthcare
2011-10-28
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is an Act (PPACA) which has come under a lot of fire recently. It has been dubbed "ObamaCare", with the insinuation that it has been as effective (or not) as the rest of President Obama's reforms. It is no secret that there are many health reform challenges to be faced, and in the opinion of some, the Obama Administration has not been dealing with these challenges as well as it could.
What is the PPACA?
The Act aims to provide healthcare to the majority of Americans, and requires insurers to set premiums based on age and location, disregarding pre-existing conditions. Medicaid is significantly expanded, and federal subsidies are available for those up to 400% above the poverty line. Other standards for insurance companies as well as requirements for businesses are also part of this Act, but the most controversial part of this Act is the Health Insurance Mandate.
Challenges faced by the Affordable Care Act
The health insurance mandate requires all citizens to purchase some recognized health insurance policy, with penalties for those who don't comply. This clause will only take effect in 2014, although it is currently being challenged in many federal courts. Recently, Judge Perkins, a federal judge, ruled the mandate to be unconstitutional, and a three-panel judge in Atlanta also declared the same. This extremely controversial mandate will soon be settled in the Supreme Court.
Those who oppose this plan term the nationalization of insurance, banks and financial institutions as socialism, a word which could alarm enough Americans to rally behind a conservative opposition. The sharp regulations and tax innovations that target pharmaceutical and insurance companies could very well backfire, according to a report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This report predicts that the rising costs incurred by these companies will be transferred onto the consumers, which means more expensive health care.
Experts are divided as to whether the law will raise or lower the federal deficit, given how many factors are in play. In order for the law to be useful, it will have to overcome this hurdle and hopefully lower the deficit. The supply of doctors is a serious issue, and although the plan includes policies to train more physicians, experts predict a shortage of around 50,000 physicians in the next decade.
In summary, the health reform challenges faced by proponents of ObamaCare are vast and need to be dealt with. The main issues of taxation, rising health care costs and civil rights have the entire country divided. These issues are going to get a lot of focus with the upcoming 2012 Presidential elections, which may be decisive in deciding a verdict.
