In 2010, the Affordable Care Act, was signed into law by the then United States president Barack Obama, it focuses on the healthcare system’s future by proposing healthcare policy changes. Some of the Act’s aims were to expand insurance access, focus on preventive services, and curtail the rising healthcare costs. Specific sections and provisions in the Act outline the changes that must be observed to reach the intended goals in the country’s healthcare system. Some of the components of the Act will expand coverage, while others will lead to a reduction in healthcare costs and lead to improved health outcomes. Discussion in the post shall focus on the Act’s clauses that will lead to the latter two effects.

The Act provided health insurance exchange markets and eradicated cost-sharing for routine preventive medical care (Marton, Ukert & Yelowitz, 2018). The two provisions of the Act will eventually decrease healthcare costs because patients will be relieved of the burdens of having to pay when they visit their providers for routine prevention services. The Act provides that Medicare shall fully cover the costs incurred (Campbell & Shore-Sheppard, 2020). On the other hand, health insurance exchange markets will also lead to decreased healthcare costs because they aim to provide medical covers at a subsidized cost. Cost subsidy will motivate patients to seek preventive and curative medical attention in higher numbers, leading to better health outcomes. Reduction of costs shall thus sequentially precede improved health outcomes.

References

Campbell, A. L., & Shore-Sheppard, L. (2020). The social, political, and economic effects of the affordable care act: Introduction to the issue. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 6(2), 1-40.

Marton, J., Ukert, B., & Yelowitz, A. (2018). Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Behaviors after Three Years.