Benefits and Drawbacks of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Benefits and Drawbacks of the Affordable Care Act
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Benefits and Drawbacks of the Affordable Care Act
Health insurance should be made mandatory to mitigate the uneven distribution of healthcare based on determining factors rather than necessity. Failure to make health insurance mandatory increases disparities in volumes of care and access to consumers, inevitably undermining the ability of the historically underserved communities to access the desperately needed care. According to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the realized benefits of those mandated to participate are financial security, improved access to care and utilization, better chronic illness care and related outcomes, improved self-reported health and wellbeing, and reduced mortality. Regarding financial security, those participating in the PPACA report reduction in health care bills invoiced for collection, out-of-pocket health care spending, and improved credit score and personal bankruptcy cases. The consumers record better outpatient utilization, higher preventive visits, and higher prescription medication utilization and compliance. The eligible participants realized better treatment for chronic illnesses, a higher rate of diagnosing chronic diseases, and better depression outcomes. Although some studies indicate nonsignificant changes in self-reported health and wellbeing outco...