Case Study The Government and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 - Free Essay Example

Case Study: The Government and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 Abstract The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 has certainly been a momentous subject for the United States history. This case study will describe the many significant processes of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. It is essential for one to understand how this Healthcare Reform has changed the way Americans receive and practice healthcare. This case study will also introduce readers about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 was enacted and established through the United States government. Case Summary The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 was created by President Barack Obama. This was passed by Congress and signed into law on March 23, 2010. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 was implemented to help provide healthcare to uninsured Americans. According to Miller and Kirsch (2011), in 2012 it was estimated that more than 30 million Americans, under the age of 65 were uninsured or lacked health coverage (para.1). The American government has played an essential role to make this Act effective. The enactment and establishment of the health care law in 2010 has resulted in many significant debates, strategic maneuvers and partisanship, in the legislative branch of the US government. Effects of Key Stakeholders The key stakeholders in this case study are the members of the House of Representatives and Congress. President Barack Obama proposed a bill that lead to a split decision. While the bill was processed and enacted, members of the opposing side, the Republicans, did not agree so much. They were not too keen on the guidelines of the new law. They did not like the fact that the use of government funding and support, was necessary. The Republicans tried many times to repeal. No matter what the opposing side wanted, the President would just veto their requests (Klien, 2012). This affects the Republicans, be cause they may feel the decisions made by the President were unfair. They may also feel as if, that they were not able to include contribute enough of their concerns and ideas in the new Act. Case Questions 1. The legislative branch of the United States government is known to be very complex system. The legislative branch is used to create and implement many bills and laws. According to John Cannan (2013), the legislative procedures is a straightforward process that has been utilized for decades (p.133). When a bill is introduced, it is released to the committee for consideration. After the bill is considered and reported by the committee, it is then released to the chamber floors (Cannan, 2013, p.132). The chamber floors consists of the full assembly of the house. The chamber floors will review the bill. When the bill is finalized and both chambers have agreed on it. The next step is voting, voting will then determine if the bill is ready be sent to the executive branch to be endorsed, and become into law (p.132). This legislative process is extremely important when the universal health care reform was presented. The new universal healthcare reform caused quite a stir in the White House. It was obvious, using the traditional legislative system to pass the new reform was not going to be a smooth ride. John Cannan (2013) explains that the current tradition system was time consuming and systematic. 2. Legislation has actually become more of an ad hoc (p.133). An ad hoc is defined as a concerned with a particular end or purpose, without further consideration of a wider application (Merriam-Webster, 2014). The ad hoc legislation of the Affordable Care Act was presented by President Barack Obama, during his first term in 2009. It was one of his top goal to implement during his election. As mentioned previously, President Obama wanted to strengthen existing forms of health care and expanding health coverage to be universal (Rosenbaum, 2011, p.130). Cannan ( 2010) explained that the ad hoc legislation involved two bills to come into law, the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (pgs.133-34). It was not until March 2009, when the three chairman of the House committee had jurisdiction, over the health care reform. They were able avoid committee turf wars and work together to propose a draft legislation (Cannan, 2010, p.137). On June 19, 2009, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, provided the discussion draft, which included many provisions and changes to the health care reform (Cannan, 2010, p. 137). Later, the Act was developed as the House bill 3200 Americas Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 During this time, the congressional committees evaluated and altered any needed changes for the markup process. Cannan (2010) stated during the markup process committee members would discuss further on the action plans, make improvements, and then finally voted on whether or not to send it out to the legislation (p.138). 3. The American public had many different reactions and concerns on the Act. According to Pew Research Center (2012), study showed that 48 percent of the public disapproved and 43 percent approved the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (para.2). This led to a clear partisan. A partisan was also essential to the process of the new health care reform act. The term partisan is defined as an action or spirit of partially for a specific political party (Farflex, 2014). Before the process of enacting this Act, there has been many protracted debates and discussions, between the Democratic and the Republican parties. Many Democrats were satisfied if the new law was upheld, and the Republicans wanted it to be eliminated (Pew Research, 2012). Throughout the American history, the Republican and Democratic parties rarely agreed the same ideas and beliefs on certain topics. According to Pew Research (2012), both the Democrats and Republicans were not in favor with one of the components of the health care reform (para.4). They did not like the idea of the individual mandate. The individual mandate is a law part of the Affordable Care Act, requiring all individuals to have healthcare. If they failed to obtain a healthcare coverage, or choose not to have one, they will end up having to pay a penalty tax. The Republicans said this law was unconstitutional (Klein, 2012). Another example of partisanship with this Act, was the governments extensive role in the health care. The Republicans were not fond of expanding the role of government in healthcare, and felt that was not a substantial method (Weissert Weissert, 2012, p.19). Research stated, 88 percent of Republicans felt the government involvement in health care was too demanding, while only 37 percent of Democrats felt that way (Pew Research, 2012). Miller and Kirsch (2011) noted many newly elected governments campaigned against this, due to the estimated $235 billion bud get deficit (p.3). 4. The political strategic maneuvers that influenced the new health care reform of 2010, was to find the best solution to implement affordable health care for Americans. Miller and Kirsch (2011) stated there has been many road bumps and difficult challenges. One of the noticeable challenges was the time frame for the Affordable Care Act to fully function successfully. Many of the revised and new coverage provisions will not fully be effective until four years (p.2). In order to provide and educate people on how to acquire health insurance, the most efficient method is to divide it upon each state. Since the Affordable Care Act is built as a joint federal state initiative, the health care reform was to be administered primary by the states (Miller kirsch, 2011, p.3). Many responsibilities of each state consisted of implementing insurance Exchanges for small business owners and their employees, educating individual about the new healthcare reform, and managing t he Medicaid expansion (Miller Kirsch, 2011, p.3). As a result, each state will have to plan accordingly based on their policy choices, financial resources, and staffing. According to Sara Rosenbaum (2011), as of August 5, 2010, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners acknowledge that about half of the states confirmed their health insurance department held implemented powers through explicit legislation or through their general powers (p.131). At that time, under the federal law, state implemented federal insurance regulations remained voluntary. In another study it showed that for the past 25 years, Republicans support for federal aid in health care has declined (Pew Research, 2012). According to Joanne Kenan (2011) on January 19, 2011, all Republicans and three Democrats in the United States House of Representative voted to repeal the health care reform (para.1). Since a full repeal of the Act was not granted it resulted in an ongoing battle, within the legislation. T he opposing parties wanted to make additional changes to the Act. They requested changes to the individual and employer mandate, prohibition on states to reduce Medicaid eligibility, and the CLASS act, to name a few (Kenan, 2011). Conclusion In the end, the process and enactment of the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 has made it mark in the United States history. The process to enact this Act was also very different compared to other previous signed laws. President Barack Obamas top agenda to promote universal healthcare coverage for all Americans has proved to be a large and difficult task. The governments involvement and control on health care has led to numerous adverse views on the Act. Still, with many members of the House and unsatisfied Americans, requesting to make additional changes to the Act, will result in a unforgettable turnout during the next few years. References Ad hoc. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/diction ary/ad hoc Cannan, J. (2013). Legislative history of the affordable care act: How legislative procedure shapes legislative history.Law library journal,105(2), Kenen, J. (2011, February 25).Health policy briefs. Retrieved from https://www.healthaffairs.org/healthpolicybriefs/brief.php?brief_id=41 Klein, E. (2012, June 25).Unpopular mandate. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/06/25/120625fa_fact_klein Miller, M. Kirsch, R. (2011, January). Where the rubber meets the road: Strategies for successful state implementation of the affordable care act.The California Endowment, Obama health care law: Where does the public stand?. (2012, June 15). Retrieved from https://www.people-press.org/2012/06/15/obama-health-care-law-where-does-the-public- stand/ Partisanism. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Partisan (political) Rosenbaum, S. (2011). Law and the publicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s health.Public Health Reports,126, Weissert, W., Weissert, C. (2012).Governing health: The politics of health policy. (4th ed.). Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.