The health care reform has been provided and Barack Obama can celebrate this victory. But, there is still much discussion about the issue. Moreover, some innovations are going to be applied only in 2014 (Loven, 2010), so there is much time to consider all the advantages and disadvantages of the reform and make it suitable for different layers of population. It is possible to state a number of constraints and implications connected with this reform.
One of the biggest constraints that has impeded healthcare reform is public opinion. Each person has its own point of view which is considered to be correct. A number of personal opinions create public opinion (White, Trautman, & Coyle, n.d.). This opinion still remains negative, according to the information collected by a number of polls (Loven, 2010). It is natural that the first reaction to something new is negative as it can be easily explained by the lack of information. Public opinion is created on the basis of the facts which are taken from media, or other sources of information which do not offer the whole picture of the event.
People are unable to read the hundreds of pages of the written document devoted to the healthcare reform, so they have to be content with the pieces of information they are able to get. Thus, to improve public opinion and to make it positive about the health care reform, people should be offered more information about the issue. People should know about the nearest changes and someone should explain them what advantages they are going to get with them.
Turning to the problem of short and long term implications on health care delivery in the sphere of plastic surgery, the following issues may be identified. Working in an outpatient Plastic Surgery Center, I faced an issue that the current reform does not affect this field too much. But, this is the problem. The sphere of plastic surgery managed to defeat the cosmetic tax which consisted 5%. This tax is not reinserted in the health care reform that means that people have an opportunity to provide the surgery cheaper. The increase of different payments in the insurance bills does not influence this specific sphere of health care (Shoaf, L., Svoboda, S. & Smith). This short term effect is really beneficial for the consumers of these services.
Dwelling upon a long term affect of the health care reform, in our case the absence of this effect, it may be considered the shift from the amount of clients a physician has managed to serve to the amount of the services he/she has managed to provide. In other words, one of the main changes in the current health care reform is the reasons for paying. If before the reform physicians were paid for a number of people they have treated, now, the interest is in the value of the services (Responsible Reform for the Middle Class, n.d.). Thus, it is possible to predict that simple physicians will go to plastic surgery fields to remain in the previous conditions and receive good payment (the value of the services and number of patients is high in this field).
Reference List
Loven, J. (2010). It’s the law of the land: Health overhaul signed. Web.
Responsible Reform for the Middle Class. (n.d.) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Web.
Shoaf, L., Svoboda, S. & Smith, A. (2011). Health care advocacy was a roller coaster in 2010. Plastic Surgery News. Web.
White, K., Trautman, D., & Coyle, C. (n.d.). Introduction to Healthcare Delivery, Part II: Healthcare Reform.