Review of The Pros and Cons of Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act otherwise known as Obamacare presents many benefits and detriments to the people and our economy. There are several opinions that have a wide range of feelings between saying Obamacare is terrible and Obamacare is the best healthcare reform our country has had since World War II. One of the major benefits from Obamacare is that you cannot be dropped from your coverage when you get sick or make mistakes on your application. Also, you cannot be denied treatment for being sick or charged more for being sick, which is one of the major benefits of Obamacare. Nearly one out of every two adults has a diagnosed chronic illness, and if companies denied them coverage it would be very unfair to the individuals with the illness. Considering that it is a pre-existing condition, it is good that this is part of the health care reform because then companies would be justified in denying coverage to over millions of Americans.

Another positive result from the implication of Obamacare is the fact that it is more accessible now for most individuals in America. Tens of millions of people who did not have health insurance have access to affordable health insurance that is very important for those below the poverty level who could not previously afford health insurance costs. It ensures that everyone in our country will be able to receive the benefits of the health care system. It lays the foundation for future reform in our health care system so that we may continue to progress and increase our ranks in health care nationwide. We are not getting our return on investment and the accessibility issue is being fixed therefore we will save our money in the future and improve our healthcare delivery system.

The most important implication from the Affordable Care Act is the fact that Medicare is improving for the elderly by eliminating the Donut Hole and expanding preventive services. The Donut Hole is the gap, which is the result of beneficiaries passing the initial limit of prescription drug costs forcing seniors to pay out of pocket for their prescription drugs. This was extremely unfair because it was inconvenient for people who needed it the most. People who truly need the prescription drugs could not afford them but Obamacare has filled that Donut Hole. Considering that people 65 and older dominate the population in this country it is ludicrous to think that it would be okay to stop their coverage once they really started needing it. According to Ron Pollack, the executive director of WWW.FamiliesUSA.org, 5.8 million people have gotten assistance with their drug costs. Making sure that people receive the right amount of drugs at the right time will also limit health care costs. It reduces the number of people returning to the hospital because it keeps people healthier, which in turn reduces health care costs.

For example, my grandfather is 67 years old and has several prescription medications that he needs considering his health and age. I am in a low-middle class family and this part of Obamacare is very beneficial. My grandfather often comes very close to passing his initial limit on prescription drugs and often has tons of prescription drugs unused in his room. Now he is getting the right amount of drugs at the correct time and it is helping him maintain his health and stability in the process of receiving prescription drugs.

Although I believe Obamacare is more beneficial to our society overall, there are several detriments to the bill that are overshadowed by their benefits. One of the major problems with the Obamacare is the fact that to ensure coverage for everyone, there are new taxes in place to offset the costs. Otherwise known as the Individual or Employer mandate, this is basically a tax on people of high economic status in our society and has been very controversial since the bill was passed in 2010. The taxes are mostly on people in the upper class, which is not fair to them because they are being taxed for something that is not as beneficial to them as it is to people in lower classes. Those who earned their money to gain a high financial status to have it taken away by the government simply for the fact that they have more money than others is unfair. I believe so because it is not an equal taxation for everyone. It is unfortunate that we have to use their money to pay for these costs and it is unfair to them.

Another misfortune of Obamacare is that everyone’s insurance will be increased as a result of the new bill. Since Obamacare says that Insurance companies must cover sick people, this means that the costs of everyone’s health insurance will increase to cover these costs. This is unfair to people who are struggling to pay their insurance in the first place, let alone having an increase considering this affects members of all economic classes. I love the idea of trying to make sure that everyone has coverage, but I am not sure if I am Okay with the idea of that coming at the cost of everyone else in our society. Personally, I would not be okay with my health insurance increasing because of my financial state it would only put more burden on me as an individual along with those in my family.

In this case, this affects my family in a negative way. As I said earlier, I am in a lower middle-class family. I live with four other people in our house and my mother is the only one that works. An increase in insurance to cover those is unfortunately a burden on us because our family is already limited in income. It makes budgeting even tighter and does not present any extra benefits to our family.

The biggest problem with Obamacare is that the bill does not necessarily focus on cost control that is such a huge problem in our healthcare delivery system. Although Obamacare does help curb the growth in healthcare spending, it does not decrease the amount that we spend on healthcare. This means that we are still not getting our full return on investment. Our 18 cents of every dollar is not being used to the fullest extent of the healthcare system considering we are ranked in the 30s around the world. The actual cost of healthcare services continues to stay the same as we continue to struggle to find ways to lower the prices. This is the biggest problem in our system because it is one of the only things consumers actually care about: money. If more money is being spent than necessary people will continue to complain and that is the case here in America.

Overall, I believe that Obamacare will be more beneficial in the long run for our nation so long as we continue to make revisions that will better our healthcare system. Getting our return on investment and making sure that everyone has access to viable healthcare is the most important part of improving the system. If we are going to pay high amounts for healthcare then the quality must be great and we must be getting exactly what our money is worth.