The Affordable Care Act is a bill that was supported by President Barack Obama as part of his health care agenda. His belief in universal healthcare for all led the president to see the shortcomings of the current healthcare laws and the need for further coverage expansion and a reassessment of the way insurance companies operate in terms of shouldering their clients healthcare needs and medical bills.
It was actually the fact that insurance companies were abusing the rights of their clients as patients that partially propelled the need for the Affordable Care Act. It was no secret that the insurance companies were acting like scam corporations before the Affordable Care Act, barely covering medical procedures, or outright rejecting the coverage of a patient just because he got sick. Some of them, even put a cap on insurance coverage per year of lifetime of the patients. All acts which were seen as insurance company abuse.
Another of the main reasons why there seemed to be a major need for the Affordable Care Act was because of the growing disparity in the healthcare coverage of the working people regardless of their race, ethnicity, or religion.
Healthcare studies at the time indicated that low income Americans, along with racial and ethnic minorities, barely had access to medical care, treatment options, and sometimes, did not even qualify for insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act hoped to bridge that gap and offer coverage to those who would not usually qualify for regular insurance coverage for one reason or another.
Basically, the old era of healthcare should be viewed as the most incompetent and unsystematic method of national government healthcare delivery. It seemed to be slanted towards servicing the interests of the insurance companies alone while leaving its clients holding the empty bag of promises consisting of undelivered healthcare needs.
Although the Affordable Care Act sounds highly promising on paper, there have been quite a number of concerns raised regarding it by health practitioners, insurance companies, and politicians alike.
Senators and other politicians are afraid of the the government will have to increase spending in order to cover the insurance needs of more Americans while in turn, cutting the funding for Medicare to half of what its already measly budget is today. There are also increasing concerns that due to the larger insurance coverage for illnesses, it would translate into higher insurance premiums for members.
There were two key ideas that went into effect in 2010 for the Affordable Care Act. Both of which affected the insurance industry the most. The first of which is the removal of the ability of the insurance company to place a lifetime cap on essential benefits such as hospital confinement.
I would define this as an important key idea under this policy because not all illnesses can be considered as short term treatment cases. There are some which require extensive, expensive, and long term treatments which the patient normally does not manage to complete because their insurance coverage runs out before the treatment has a chance to actually have any effect on the patient.
Insurance companies also have this policy of not covering preexisting health conditions for most of its clients. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers may also no longer prohibit preexisting medical conditions from being covered for its clients and their dependents under the age of 19.
An important factor to consider when you look at children who are born with congenital defects that can easily be treated if only insurance companies would open their pocketbooks and pay for the treatment or procedures. Instead of playing God like they seem to enjoy doing.
It is my personal opinion that mandating health care coverage via the insurance companies is not a good idea for the national public. Insurance coverage can only be effectively used by those who are gainfully employed and have the ability to cover the insurance premiums because of the cost sharing between the employer and the employee. Under that set-up, having insurance coverage is probably a good idea.
On the contrary, having the personal freedom to choose how to handle your own healthcare would allow the patient the freedom to get the best possible medical care he can afford with the knowledge that his treatment will not be cut midstream because his insurance suddenly ran out or the insurance company refused to cover it.
Basically, I view mandated healthcare coverage as a way of monopolizing the healthcare industry. By telling people that they need health insurance or they cannot get medical care, the insurance companies and their network doctors dictate how people can avail of medical services, by how much, and for how long.
Granted that the lifetime cap on medical coverage was removed by the Affordable Care Act, I find it hard to believe that the insurance companies and their legal think tanks will not find a way to get around that ruling. Health insurance companies are in this business for the money, not for the care of their clients.
In the end, the Affordable Care Act will allow people to opt out of insurance coverage if they wish, that is a good thing, because people will finally have the freedom to find the kind of health professional and services that feel right for them, and come ot a true understanding of what their healthcare will actually cost. All without having to settle because that is all their insurance could afford to cover.