Essay on "Health Care Reform Efforts"

Essay 3 pages (1100 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Health coverage is one of the means of health care financing in the United States that has evolved through a series of social interventions (Bodenheimer & Grumbach, 2012, p.5). Each of these social interventions solved a problem but ended up creating its own problems requiring more intervention. While health care financing has evolved in the history of the U.S. health sector, it is an important feature because of its significance in determining accessibility and affordability of health care services in light of the high costs of health insurance. Therefore, health care financing or coverage is an important health policy and reform that could help improve the accessibility and affordability of care services to the population.

Significant Challenges in Enactment of PPACA:

While the enactment of the Affordable Care Act has in increasing the quality and affordability of health coverage, the legislation has encountered several challenges since it was signed into law. One of the major challenges that have hindered its full implementation is the numerous state actions and laws prohibiting the execution of some of its provisions. Since its enactment, various states have developed laws to restrict, change or oppose certain provisions of this act. Consequently, certain states have opted out of some of the provisions of PPACA and hindered its full implementation.

The nature of the policy-making process is relatively difficult since it is coupled with varying opinions and divisive issues. In most cases, the policy-making process is usually characterized with controversies and debates that are based on political affiliations. For instance, while PPACA received huge support from Democrats, it was largely criticized and attacked by Republicans even after its enactment into law (Leflar, 2013). Republicans capitalized on PPACA's public unpopularity and continued to highlight the challenges associated with its full implementation. These challenges have shown why health reform in the United States has been so difficult, especially in light of the controversies surrounding health reform initiatives and measures undertaken to prevent full implementation.

In conclusion, health reform is still a major issue in the U.S. health care system because of the increased need to enhance the accessibility and affordability of care services while ensuring that health providers offer high-quality services. This issue has remained divisive and very difficult to achieve because of the nature of the policy-making process and challenges that every reform effort encounters across the political divide. An example of the difficulty in achieving health care reform in the United States is the enactment of the Affordable Care Act that has continued to face several challenges with regards to its full implementation.

References:

Bodenheimer, T., & Grumbach, K. (2012). Understanding health policy: a clinical approach (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Medical.

"Key Features of the Affordable Care Act by Year." (n.d.). Features of the Health Law.

Retrieved from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website: http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts/timeline/timeline-text.html

Leflar, R.B. (2013, July 12). Reform of the United States Health Care System: An Overview.

Retrieved from University of Arkansas website: http://media.law.uark.edu/arklawnotes/2013/07/12/reform-of-the-united-states-health-care-system-an-overview-2/

Rosenbaum, S. (2011, February). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Implications

for Public Health Policy and Practice. Public Health Reports, 126(1), 130-35. Retrieved June 3, 2014, from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001814/ READ MORE

How to Reference "Health Care Reform Efforts" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

Health Care Reform Has Been a Hot Research Paper

health care reform has been a hot button issue across the United States in the form of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) but in the State of Minnesota it has… read more

Research Paper 4 pages (1375 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Healthcare Reform Lowering Costs in Health Care Essay

Healthcare Reform

Lowering costs in Health Care

Changes in the Health Care Act have sought to lower the costs of health care for Americans. Reports made available indicate that the… read more

Essay 3 pages (918 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Healthcare Reform Ways the Healthcare Reform Bill Thesis

Healthcare Reform

Ways The Healthcare Reform Bill May Affect The Average American

Many of those who disagree with the proposed Healthcare Reform Bill actually agree that America's current health care… read more

Thesis 29 pages (7972 words) Sources: 20 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Health Care Reform Term Paper

Health Care Reform:

For quite some time, the debate on the health care reforms has been centered on a number of key issues. These key issues have included the question… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (1922 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Health Care Reform Life Thesis

Health Care Reform

LIFE and HEALTH at STAKE

An online survey conducted this month said that half of all U.S. adults want a major reform in the healthcare system in… read more

Thesis 7 pages (2050 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>