The book titled Population health: Creating a culture of wellness provides additional information about the establishment and the evolution of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The act itself was passed in 2010 to reduce the number of uninsured citizens and improve the overall status of the US population health. It contained numerous demands and provisions for individuals to be able to continue receiving benefits on their insurance.
It was found restrictive and impractical, limiting vulnerable populations from receiving quality healthcare on insurance. Between 2010 and 2015, a plethora of amendments and legislations helped remove the barriers for these people, effectively reducing maintenance requirements to obtain and keep insurance (Nash & Fabius, 2015). At the same time, Medicaid and insurance for children were significantly simplified.
In regards to politics surrounding the ACA, it is possible to see that the society expressed a demand to reduce the number of uninsured citizens and help protect the vulnerable and underprivileged populations (Nash & Fabius, 2015). The adoption of ACA helped reduce the number of uninsured citizens by roughly 23 million individuals. However, Nash and Fabius state that another pressing concern for ACA was cost-effectiveness.
With the government shouldering more than half of insurance costs, the country’s healthcare budget grew considerably (Nash & Fabius, 2015). The provision of vulnerable individuals with affordable healthcare came at the cost of budget expenses, which was met negatively by the conservative forces in the government. There were also concerns regarding the inefficiency of government spending due to bureaucracy, redundancy, and abuse of authority. This tension resulted in a gradual shift from volume-based care to value-based care, intending to reduce costs by providing a more professional and economically-efficient type of care.
Reference
Nash, D., & Fabius, R. (2015). Population health: Creating a culture of wellness (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett.