Introduction
American people need to live in a safe and comfortable environment to ensure successful goal achievement, decision-making, and problem-solving. Promoting public policy is the responsibility of public officials in the government to create a list of actions and change the current state of affairs (Kraft & Furlong, 2017). Many political, social, environmental, and economic factors might shape public policies. This paper will pay attention to the healthcare sector and the conditions under which the Patient Protection and Affordable Care (PPACA), also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare, was created. Healthcare policies aim at endorsing human well-being and managing healthcare costs in the United States (Kraft & Furlong, 2017). The causes and outcomes of the PPACA touch upon different spheres of human life, but its main purpose is to protect American citizens and provide them with affordable care. The chosen public policy’s political, social, and economic context will be examined to prove that the American decision to support Obamacare had a solid background and resources for successful implementation.
Policy Summary
During the last several decades, many attempts have been made to improve the healthcare system in the United States, both successful and failed. Obamacare is one of the most discussed and analyzed healthcare policies that have changed human lives and care access. The ACA was proposed by former President Barack Obama and passed on March 23, 2010 (Campbell & Shore-Sheppard, 2020). It was necessary to elaborate on current health care conditions in terms of affordability, accessibility, and quality (Campbell & Shore-Sheppard, 2020). Most individuals from the private insurance market accessed medical care, expanded their treatment options, and facilitated medical decisions. Consumers should be protected and learn how to prevent disease and maintain wellness with the help of regular checkups and equal care. The ACA has significantly decreased health disparities and stabilized health coverage (Entress & Anderson, 2020). Instead of fear of losing money, Obamacare offers safe conditions and positively affects the U.S. healthcare system.
Factors that Shape Obamacare
Developing policies in health care is characterized by certain rules and regulations. According to Kraft and Furlong (2017), policies cannot exist in a vacuum, and certain social and economic conditions, together with political and environmental determinants, should be considered. Obamacare is not an exception, and in addition to its evident outcomes and contributions to public health, political, economic, and social contexts determined the policy’s success.
Political Factors
In promoting Obamacare, politics plays an important role, including the opinions of Republicans and Democrats and the attitudes toward the law in the House. According to Wolf (2022), this policy cost Democrats their control opportunities: conservatives expected a stricter control over the healthcare industry, and liberals wanted to be sure that enough changes and conditions could be established. For several years before the official legalization of Obamacare, Democrats had to resist the Republicans’ opposition and the intention to replace the ACA with other worthy alternatives. These political controversies prevented the implementation of Obamacare in all social layers. On the other hand, such attention and debates revealed all pros and cons as well as demonstrated the necessity to offer Americans health insurance coverage.
Social Factors
Many social conditions affect the implementation of public policies in the healthcare industry. They usually include demographics, immigration, education, and employment (Kraft & Furlong, 2017). Before Obamacare, Medicaid and Medicare were able to cover only people with high incomes and specific conditions. Campbell and Shore-Sheppard (2020) discovered that party identification was more influential in health reform than demographics like education, age, and income. The main idea of the ACA was to reduce socioeconomic disparities and enhance mutual support and understanding. Racial differences could not be ignored at the beginning of 2010 because many Black or Hispanic communities remained uninsured compared to their white neighbors (Campbell & Shore-Sheppard, 2020). It was a challenge for the former President to overcome racial and ethnic debates and create an equal requirement for all American citizens.
Economic Factors
Economic factors have a serious impact on adopting policies in health care. Before the ACA, the distribution of power, wealth, and other opportunities was unequal because of historical oppression and prejudice against some minority groups (Entress & Anderson, 2020). Institutional poverty and racism were related to other economic factors like inflation and unemployment (Kraft & Furlong, 2017). Economic conditions were never equal for all Americans, and that truth could no longer be ignored. The financial circumstances of low-income families were not enough to cover all health insurance requirements. Many people could not afford to visit hospitals when they needed help because payday loans were unavailable, and medical debts grew (Campbell & Shore-Sheppard, 2020). Obamacare did not introduce the solutions to all questions, but low-income families began feeling more protected with this type of insurance for their future generations.
Conclusion
Developing healthcare policies should be based on the analysis of various political, social, and economic factors. In Obamacare’s case, the chosen contexts were properly identified and discussed to prove that not all Americans got enough opportunities to pay for their care services and had to neglect their health needs. The decision to implement the ACA was not spontaneous, and much work was done to examine the existing conditions, resources, and opinions. The chosen policy helped many low-income families and the representatives of racial minorities access high-quality care and minimize the impact of socioeconomic disparities and other challenges.
References
Campbell, A. L., & Shore-Sheppard, L. (2020). The social, political, and economic effects of the affordable care act: Introduction to the issue.RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 6(2), 1-40.
Entress, R. M., & Anderson, K. M. (2020). The politics of health care: Health disparities, the affordable care act, and solutions for success. Social Work in Public Health, 35(4), 152-162.
Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2017). Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Wolf, Z. B. (2022). The moment Americans embraced Obamacare. And why it couldn’t pass today. CNN Politics.