The Affordable Care Act (AVA) or Obamacare

Affordable Care Act
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Institution
Affordable Care Act
Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as Obamacare, enacted in 2010 during President Obama's tenure, is undoubtedly one of the most noticeable reforms in the healthcare sector in the US. The initiative had three primary objectives: provision of affordable health insurance, expansion of the Medicaid cover to cover a larger population of low-income earners, and reduction of costs of healthcare through innovative means (HealthCare.gov, n.d. par.1). Besides the three objectives, ACA has come to the rescue of the uncompensated care costs, with most states that have embraced it commemorating a notable decline in the burden. Although ACA has come under fire, particularly during President Trump's tenure, it is worth crediting it for the effort it has made towards easing the burden of uncompensated care.
Goodnough (2016) in the New York Times narrates the story of an uninsured American citizen, Mr. Colston (36), who benefited immensely through ACA that expanded the Medicaid program to cover such low-income citizens. Temple, the hospital that provided health service to Mr. Colston, did not suffer any financial implication courtesy of Obamacare. The article further expounds the fact that ACA has improved the healthcare state of many poor neighborhoods in the US that are far much susceptible to uncompensated care. The looming repeal of the healthcare act threatens the viability of the safety-net hospitals like Temple that largely depends on Medicaid revenue.
ACA mimics the single-payer healthcare systems that cover everyone under the same insurance agency (Valdovinos et al., 2015). The universality of the ACA resulted in the denouncement of inequality in the healthcare sector. The uninsured, underinsured, and even the affluent are all covered under the same insurance agency. With centralized insurance policies, the management of funds to healthcare facilities become was streamlined and efficient, thus limiting the negative impacts of debts and uncompensated care. Besides, the insurance act compels the insurance agencies to increases t...