Kenzie Simmons Mrs. Walker English 10H 3 March 2023 The Impact the Affordable Care Act Had On Healthcare in the US The Affordable Care Act (ACA) ensures that those with lower incomes have more access to affordable health insurance and generally lowers the costs of healthcare while also implementing different essential health benefits through insurance. This changed millions of Americans' lives for the better but also complicated the process of finding coverage and not so positively affected some Americans lives. The ACA positively impacted healthcare by making it more accessible, more affordable, and improving the quality of care. Who is most positively impacted by the Affordable Care Act? The uninsured, the poor, small business employees, …show more content…
Those who are covered under ACA influenced insurance have an easier way to access other healthcare services that aren’t typically easy to access. These services primarily include diabetic patients, trauma victims, and those that require an emergency surgery. This is due to the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion unit. (Isola) In addition to better access it also saves the person tons of money in return. Emergency room expenses are easily more costly than other services so there are nothing but positive factors of this effect of the Affordable Care Act. Because of the coverage that is offered, insured individuals through the Affordable Care Act can access needed services, including treatment for mental health needs, without being required to access a local emergency room.” …show more content…
So some people that were insured before the ACA were no longer able to afford it. As stated on Vittana.org, “Low income individuals could receive government subsidies to make their insurance affordable. For higher income families, those subsidies were not made available.” (Vittana) Plus, insurance companies had to generalize their coverage to follow the Affordable Care Act guidelines instead of having the freedom to tailor to specific needs and make one's insurance plan customized to their specific needs, wants, or price range. This, as a result, directly caused an exponential rise in premiums. Not only did the general price of insurance rise for higher income families, but the taxes on medical devices used in procedures and pharmacy sales rose right along with it. “In essence, the wealthiest in the US are being asked to fund the healthcare for the poorest.”