Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Introduction

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a law of the United States from the year 2010 that regulates the access to health insurance and thus is an essential aspect of the U.S. health care system. It is considered a central component of the policies of U.S. President Barack Obama, which is why there in the political debates, this policy is known as Obamacare. A few days later, the law was slightly modified and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act was enacted, which was highly controversial legally and politically (Protection, 2010). The Supreme Court of the United States confirmed it almost complete in the National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius on 28 June 2012. However, the political debate continued. The Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised to repeal the law in the case of his victory. However, this did not happen, since Romney lost the 2012 presidential election. The end of 2013 brought the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives insurance reform in the bargaining chips of the budget deliberations. After the Democrat-dominated Senate and President Obama were not willing to negotiate about it, it came to the Government Shutdown from 1 October 2013 (Protection, 2010).

Discussion

Content of the Law

PPACA includes numerous specific regulations which occur over several years into force in order to create a sufficiently long transition periods for both health insurers and patients. The core of the law is the so-called individual mandate, after every American is obliged to take out health insurance, if it is not otherwise secured (Buntin & Blumenthal, 2010). Exceptions are made for members of a few religious groups and there is a hardship clause, the persons intended not to cover because of their poverty are covered by Medicaid, but they cannot afford insurance. This is offset by the obligation of the insurance company to accept any patient, not the insurance of a medical examination to be made subject and the lack of pre-existing conditions. A power core is made mandatory for all insurance, for that neither issue nor cover co-payments are permitted. Moreover, in every U.S. state comparison portals are set up, on which all health insurers licensed in each State must also demonstrate their premiums and benefits transparent. For low-income insured subsidies for insurance are introduced and existing ones are increased. In addition, in the existing program, the children of low-income families are assured considerably. Companies with more than 50 employees are required to pay a contribution to the insurance companies when they offer their employees no insurance. Very small businesses can receive grants for certain group insurance policies (Weinick & Hasnain, 2011).

Uninsured persons who are not subject to the exceptions must pay the equivalent of their insurance premiums to the state. This regulation is intended to ensure the enforcement of compulsory insurance and was the core of the litigation about the PPACA. However, the Supreme Court ruled that such ...