2 theories on Affordable Care Act ( ACA). Health, Medicine Essay

Theories on Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
Theories on Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The Affordable Care Act, ACA, is the comprehensive healthcare reform that was enacted in March 2010. It is sometimes referred to as Obamacare or PPACA. The reform was aimed at achieving three goals; making health insurance affordable and available to the people by providing them with premium tax credits, expanding the national Medicaid program to ensure all adults with low income are covered, and to support innovative methods of medical care delivery to reduce the healthcare costs (Pacheco et al., 2020; Levy et al., 2020). The ACA is centered on such theories as a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) and the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) models. Despite a few complaints from a section of beneficiaries, the ACA has enhanced care for all America, with no evidence of health worsening in any group. 
Theories on which the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is based
The ACA is based on the PCMH and ACO models. The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model aims at enhancing doctor-patient engagement, especially in the management of chronic conditions. The focus has also enabled the ACA to establish effective management of patients with chronic conditions, hence reducing the length of hospital stay and hospital visits (Reddy et al., 2020). Similarly, this theory has enabled patients with pre-existing conditions to access affordable services; previously, insurance firms ignored patients with pre-existing conditions or made it too expensive for them to afford. Many insurance companies pay per month or per member, or a care management fee for each chronic patient to ensure they access to care from home and avoid home admissions (Quigley et al., 2020). This approach has enabled the ACA to ensure that home-based care is accessible to patients with chronic conditions; this also helps in reducing congestion in hospital beds. However, this theory entails payers using a ‘take or leave’ approach. This type of payment is inefficient, and there are various conditions that one must meet to qualify for the contract. This has been established to limit the effectiveness of the ACA model. 
The Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model involves some type of bundled payment and then assessing the effectiveness of the results. The approach is done through such determinants as performance, quality of care, patient satisfaction, and efficiency (Isetts, 2017). The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services argue that this approach involves various healthcare providers such as hospitals, physicians, and other professionals who choose to provide care together to improve the quality of care provided. In the case of ACA, one of the main goals has been to improve the quality of care that is provided to patients. As such, ACA encourages coordination between different groups of healthcare providers. Such coordination is also encouraged in formulating and implementing care that improves general public health. When ACO successfully delivers high-quality care and spends its resources effectively, it achieves savings (Robinson et al., 2020). Similarly, ACA seeks to ensure that all the taxpayers’ money that is used in p...