Pros And Cons Of The Affordable Care Act

There are a few pros that the Affordable Care Act has had since its inception. One is that millions of uninsured Americans now have access to healthcare. This allows for people to go to a regular provider and not abuse the emergency room department. ERs are now able to treat those who have medical emergencies versus those who are coming in for a common cold. People who are of low income, young adults, blacks, and hispanics have all had an increase in those who now have healthcare. The essence of the ACA is to have adequate healthcare, reasonable cost of healthcare, and ensure quality of healthcare (Blumenthal, Abrams, & Nuzum, 2015).

One downfall is that there is a shortage of primary care physicians due to the influx of insured Americans. One way to try to help this, is that, there are programs that allow loan forgiveness to providers willing to work in underdeveloped areas. This is a benefit to the provider and the patients (Currie, 2013).

The felt like the government was overstepping into their personal lives. Another issue is that some Americans had a rude awakening. My “affordable” healthcare through my employers went from $1000 deductible to $5000. And where it did cover 80% even prior to the deductible, it now covers 0% until the deductible is met. This was unintended outcomes that no one really thought about.

One strategy would be to have the law written more clearly. It is the same thing as patients knowing what their insurance is. If someone is able to explain it to them, they are more able to make a decision on if it is the right insurance for them. For example, I thought that I could only get insurance through my job. After this lesson, I learned, I could possibly get insurance through the marketplace. As well, I fall under the 400% of federal poverty level and could get help through the government.