Provisions of Affordable Care Act that Impact Healthcare Consumption
The ACA provisions aim at ensuring provisions of quality and affordable healthcare to all Americans. Some of the ACA provisions will alter the quantity of healthcare consumed. The first part of the essay is going to show how these provisions will alter the quantity of consumed healthcare.
Under the quality and affordable healthcare for all Americans, there is immediate action to expand and preserve coverage.
This provision allows citizens to identify affordable insurance coverage options hence enabling many Americans to access healthcare services, thereby increasing the quantity of healthcare consumed; for instance, the formation of a temporary program that covers early retirees under this initiative increases the number of health insurance policies.
Moreover, the provision on the role of public programs increases Medicaid coverage to low income earners and children. Clearly, this provision increases the quantity of healthcare that the Americans will consume.
The hospital readmission reduction initiative, which is under the provision of improving the efficiency of healthcare, is a move towards ensuring that majority of the Americans can afford the re-admission costs; for example, the payments for bone density tests assist both the healthcare providers and patients.
In addition, development of new patient care models increases the quantity of healthcare consumed; many patients can be served at a go and even decide on the care model the health providers should accord them.
Additionally, the provision to extend healthcare protections and services to rural areas enhances community participation in healthcare programs such as preventing chronic diseases thus increasing the quantity of healthcare consumed directly.
There is also the provision that aims at improving access to innovative medical therapies and community assistance program. These two provisions work hand in hand towards providing services to the underserved community.
Notably, the class program is an insurance benefit program for individuals with functional limitations in the society. The discussed provisions of the ACA clearly will alter the quantity of healthcare that Americans will consume after full implementation of the act.
Effects of these Provisions on Expenditures and Health
The second part of this essay is going to analyze the effects of the above provisions on expenditures and health. The provision to expand and conserve coverage options among the Americans will lower expenditure on healthcare services. This is because people will be free to choose the coverage that they can afford.
On the other hand, the insurance firms will record increased revenues, which will be from the many American who had never been insured before. The qualified health plan will improve the health conditions of the citizens.
For example, low income earners who could not afford Medicaid are able to access quality, and affordable healthcare; in this sense, their health conditions improve.
The provision for improving access to innovative medical therapies obviously improves the health of the citizens, even though it implies increased expenditure to acquire such services. The current disease complications require innovative medical practices that are under the ACA.
The provision on the role of public programs assures improvements in Medicaid services, simplification of Medicaid enrolment and enhanced support for children and low income earners. Undoubtedly, this provision will improve the health of the citizens through their engagement in healthcare programs.
However, the simplification of the Medicaid enrolment process increases the cost of healthcare in the end, even though the patients do not have a direct feeling of the cost. The ACA initiative aims at revolutionizing the entire American health system in order to provide quality and affordable healthcare to the citizens.
Even though it has benefits, there are hidden costs that accompany the initiative which raise expenditures on health; for instance, the tax levied on employers, annual fee for branded importers and manufacturers and increased premiums on insurance covers.
Therefore, ACA has effects on both the expenditures and health status of the Americans.