The Affordable Care Act and Health Outcomes
The Affordable Care Act began to increase the accessibility of health insurance and coverage for healthcare consumers. Many Americans lack health insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act aims to give patients with limited financial income or existing health conditions to allow health care coverage and improve the health insurance marketplace to understand the health care policy. Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurance coverage options extend to more than thirty million Americans with plans that require health insurance agencies to cover certain preventive care services for no additional charge. The preventative care services include immunizations, child preventive care and screenings, such as high blood pressure screenings, and diagnostic testing for preventable diseases such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia—health care disparities related to ethnicity, location, and age as the basis for addressing health concerns. Data is collected to stop differences and address health concerns. By incorporating comparative research studies to evaluate the efficacy of medical treatments, the Affordable Care Act will improve patient health outcomes. The health care act expands insurance access for private and public insurers, increasing consumer protection. Patients can enroll in a health insurance plan during the Coronavirus pandemic to ensure affordable coverage during disease outbreaks and global pandemics (Pitsor, 2021).
Under the Affordable Care Act, workers who work for organizations that do not offer health insurance coverage now have access to Medicaid. As part of the Affordable Care Act, working and uninsured patients will have insurance options and family members. The health care act has various provisions to ensure efficiency related to patient outcomes to attain marketplace insurance coverage for the working adult (Gangopadhyaya & Garrett, 2020).
The Affordable Care Act allows a broader and increased open consumer enrollment, increasing individuals’ rates with Medicaid assistance. Health care provisions occur to change and implement increased care. The health care consumer‘s access to affordable care does not guarantee increased access to health care. Still, it improves the availability of care, and the health care consumer is not limited to health care and discrimination based on income and status of one’s health. Through the usage of evidence-based practice and quality reporting, patient safety initiatives increase through technology, which leads to improved health outcomes. In addition to facilitating health care and easing financial burdens for individuals living below the federal poverty level, the act covers almost all uninsured individuals considered low-income citizens. In the Affordable Care Act, research and delivery models coordinate to improve patient care while lowering health care costs. The reason for multiple provisions is to decrease barriers related to health care access in centers within the community and enhance education in the workforce of nursing. Training grants increase training programs, education, and funding of healthcare services and providers to develop increased competency. The Affordable Care Act provisions aim to increase health, decrease illness, and improve clinical practices and patient care. Comprehending the requirements related to The Affordable Care Act is the first implication to achieve a change of health care culture and improve patient experience and quality of care (Mason et al., 2016).
References
Gangopadhyaya, A., & Garrett, B. (2020). How workers fared under the ACA. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 45(5), 863–887.
https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-8543322 (Links to an external site.)
Jack Pitsor, K. F. (2021, October 29). Ready, set, enroll: ACA open enrollment begins Nov. 1. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from
https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/ready-set-enroll-aca-open-enrollment-begins-nov-1-magazine2021.aspx (Links to an external site.)
Mason, D. J., Gardner, D. B., Outlaw, F. H., & O’Grady, E. (2016). Policy et politics in nursing and Health Care. Elsevier.