NURS 6050 Discussion: Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Discussion: Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

NURS 6050 Discussion: Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Discussion: Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a comprehensive healthcare reform that was signed into law by President Obama in 2010. It was created to enable all American citizens both low-income, and uninsured adults without an affordable option for health insurance be able to have adequate and affordable health insurance (Borelli et al., 2016).

The cost-benefit analysis in terms of legislators being re-elected affected efforts to repeal/replace the ACA would cost Americans a lot of money and a decrease in the quality of healthcare. For instance, in 2016, Congress passed a bill repealing ACA without a

Discussion Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

replacement which was voted by presidents. The repealing was to reduce government spending on healthcare and the elderly; although government spending on the elderly would go down by $90.9 billion in 2021 and $927 billion between 2017 and 2026 resulting in a decrease of 21.1 percent, it would cause the number of uninsured people to rise by 24 million by 2021, an increase of 81 percent of people without coverage including working families, high school students, young adults, and non-Hispanic whites. 14.5 million fewer people with Medicaid coverage by 2021, about 9.4 million that was supposed to receive a tax credit for private health coverage would no longer receive assistance and state spending would increase by $68.5 billion between 2017 and 2026 (Buettgens et al., 2016). Voters’ view has a big impact on decisions by legislative leaders because voters’ decision to keep them in the office will encourage the work they are doing whether the work is for the good of the people and the benefit of our country or not.

The number one job of a legislator is to be re-elected, to create and process bills that will become state law if approved. Training should be provided to legislators and staff about ethics laws, and they should be encouraged to meet the highest ethical standards, not just the letter of the law (Kurtz, 1994). Because they want to remain in the office for a long time or leave when they want to, they must recognize that the decisions they make will affect the lives of others (Fitch, 2011).

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Buettgens, M., Blumberg, L. J., Holahan, J., & Ndwandwe, S. (2016, June). The cost of ACA repeal. Urban institute | social and economic policy research. https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/81296/2000806-The-Cost-of-the-ACA-Repeal.pdf

Borelli, M. C., Bujanda, M., & Maier, K. (2016). The Affordable Care Act Insurance Reforms: Where Are We Now, and What’s Next?. Clinical diabetes: a publication of the American Diabetes Association, 34(1), 58–64. https://doi.org/10.2337/diaclin.34.1.58

Fitch, B. (2011, February 1). How legislators make decisions. Citizen’s handbook. https://hobnobblog.com/2011/02/how-legislators-make-decisions/