787,000 young Americans were added to the population of insured individuals, indicating a concentration on resource penetration in this specific population subset.
Administrative Impact:
The administrative implications of the Affordable Care Act are considerable and revolve mostly around the enormous undertaking of extending health coverage to a far wider number of Americans. In the text provided by Collins, we are given a sense that the primary objective of the Act is to provide public support for coverage to those currently disenfranchised by healthcare costs. Collins indicates that "the law's most significant coverage provisions will begin in 2014, with a substantial expansion in Medicaid eligibility that will cover adults earning up to 133% of the poverty level, or $29,726 for a family of four, as well as subsidized private coverage, available through new state insurance exchanges, for families earning up to 400% of poverty, or $89,400 for a family of four." (Collins, p. 4) This would denote a meaningful expansion in the responsibility taken by the U.S. government for its unacceptably high population of uninsured citizens.
Advocacy:
Upon reviewing the content of the legislation and the testimony provided by the Commonwealth Fund, it seems apparent that such a bill is absolutely imperative. Particularly in light of the economic pressures increasingly incumbent upon Americans in the recessionary climate, this type of intervention is of the utmost importance. As the article by Collins reports, "in Septembers, the Census Bureau reported that the number of people without
Among people who do have health insurance, The Commonwealth Fund estimates that in 2010, 29 million working-age adults had such high out-of-pocket costs relative to their income that they were effectively underinsured, an increase from 16 million in 2003." (Collins, p. 2)
This denotes that beyond a reasonable doubt, it is in the best interests of the people of the United States to ensure the successful implementation, review and maintenance of such legislation. The benefits that are described above in the areas of economy, resource allocation and administration are not just extended to the direct beneficiaries of the bill. Beyond that, the socioeconomic value inherent in improving our healthcare orientation is considerable. Collins reports that the costs to the economy created by the crisis of uninsured and underinsured population growth is manifested in lost wages, lost productivity, expenses to the healthcare system created by preventable illness, expenses to the public created by preventable infectiously spread disease and the loss to the consumer economy of spending by individuals unduly burdened by out-of-pocket medical expenses.
This denotes that the benefits to the American people and to the healthcare system are likely to be exponential. With the improvement in health outcomes and personal expense scenarios created by such legislation, the burden placed upon the healthcare system could also be reduced. Nursing shortages, bed shortages and unequal distribution of medical equipment and instruments could also be at least partially addressed by the reduced burden on the overarching system.
Works Cited:
Collins, S.R. (2011). Premium Tax Credits Under the Affordable Care Act: How…
