Obama Uninsured Health Care

President Obama is the 44th elected president and the first African American President of the United States (Bibliography.com Editors, 2016). With the election coming up this year in November 2016, it is a time for us to reflect on the success and downfalls of the president. Most importantly, being the first African American President and knowing the struggle of the minority, what has he done for the African American community? It has been argued by many that President Obama has not done anything for the black community, especially by current presidential candidate Donald Trump. His supporters and even some African Americans themselves believe that President Obama has not changed the situation of the African Americans in the Unites States.

Having experienced the struggle of unaffordable and inaccessible health care, he was able to put himself in others shoes and provide a real solution to the everlasting problem of uninsured health care for African Americans, as well as the residents of America as a whole. President Obama has done so by signing The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, into law on March 23, 2010 (NBC, 2015). Before this health reform was passed, 19% of Americans were not able to afford health insurance (NBC, 2015). This law has significantly impacted the African Americans who lacked health care coverage by providing healthcare for the 8 million African Americans who lacked it (White House, 2015). It was reported that the African American uninsured health coverage rate decreased by 9.2%, therefore providing coverage for 2.3 million adults. The uninsured health coverage rate has declined as a whole for the country since Presidents Bush’s presidency from 16% to 11.9%, significantly impacting health care equality as a whole in American (NBC, 2015). President Obama has also worked to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities through The Affordable Care Act. This health reform advocated increased racial and ethnic diversity of professionals in health care through the HSS Action Plan to Reduce Health Disparities and the National Stakeholder Strategy for Achieving Health Equality (White House, 2015). United States being the number one superpower in the world was not able to provide its

President Obama has also made substantial improvement in education for the African Americans. National high school drop out rates have been at an all time low, resulting in the high school graduation rate of 81.4% in 2013, the highest it has ever been (NBC, 2015). The decrease in the drop out rate has shown the most improvement in the African American community, with the high school graduation rates between the years 2010-2011 and 2012-2013 increasing from 67% to 70.7% (NCES, 2015). President Obama has increased the quality of education by investing $4 billion in the low-performing school to provide better quality education by enhancing the environment in which the learn in to be safe and secure (White House, 2015). He has also expanded access to college by helping students pay for it. President Obama has signed a student loan reform bill, the American Opportunity Tax credit (AOTC) increasing access to education to financially struggling families, as well as providing community colleges with funds to better programs offered, enhancing Minority-Serving Instituitons (MSIs) (White House, 2015). Improving the conditions of education is an investment in the future of the young African American population. President Obama emphasizing on the importance of education has resulted in quality education, allowing African Americans to acquire the skills they need to succeed in the labour force in the