ACA and Health-Care Outcomes and Costs

Sample Answer

The Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare was signed into lawover a decade ago and has so far witnessed a reduction in the number of uninsured persons, thus increasing access. This act also aims at improving healthcare delivery in the United States of America and expanding the Medicaid program reducing costs(McIntyre & Song, 2019) . Some of the components of ACA that have improved healthcare include, insurance reforms, marketplace subsidies, bundled payment andMedicaid expansion.

To improve access,this act expanded both private and public insurance coverage. To expand private insurance ACA put in place employer insurance reform measures that have since seen half of the US population insured by their employers. Those who are not employed have an option of online health insurance market places that have subsidized premiums through tax credits(Neiman et al., 2021). The premium tax credits are usually offered to those with incomes between 100%-400% of the federal poverty level.

This particular component has made sure that children under the care of their parents continue to receive treatment. These interventions have reduced disparities in healthcare provision among minority groups, childless adults and minors improving healthcare outcomes(Crowley et al., 2019).

ACA through the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) has strengthened accountable care organizations thus improving patient outcomes and satisfaction. Data in healthcare provision is gathered which in turn is used to improve services while minimizing on costs and also penalizing those providers who have performed poorly(Neiman et al., 2021).

The hospital admission reduction program also aims at improving healthcare outcome. This program improves patient outcome by linking payment to quality of services rendered. This program has seen hospitals with a high number of readmissions receiving less payments as compared to those with no or less readmissions.

ACA has reduced the cost of treatment through bundled payment which has seen linked payments for all the services one gets during a visit or their stay in the hospital. This component has improved care while reducing costs as facilities are in a financial and accountability arrangement. Facilities that keep costs below the targeted price gets a portion of profits while those that exceeds the target price face financial penalties.

References

• Crowley, R. A., Bornstein, S. S., & for the Health and Public Policy Committee of the American College of Physicians. (2019). Improving the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Insurance Coverage Provisions A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine, 170(9), 651. https //doi.org/10.7326/M18-3401
• McIntyre, A., & Song, Z. (2019). The US Affordable Care Act Reflections and directions at the close of a decade. PLOS Medicine, 16(2), e1002752. https //doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002752
• Neiman, P. U., Tsai, T. C., Bergmark, R. W., Ibrahim, A., Nathan, H., & Scott, J. W. (2021). The Affordable Care Act at 10 Years Evaluating the Evidence and Navigating an Uncertain Future. Journal of Surgical Research, 263, 102–109. https //doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2020.12.056