User:Sallypolus/Affordable Care Act

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Affordable Care Act was a law that was signed by president Barak Obama while he was in term. This act has allowed many people around the states to be able to get equal healthcare necessities and not have to ignore their medical concerns due to not being able to pay, or not wanting to deal with insurance carriers due to some illnesses that were considered to have prior diagnosis that has led to current situations/illnesses the patient is encountering.

History:
On March 23rd of 2010, Obama signed a law for the Affordable Care Act, which was originally the patient protection and affordable care act. This act was signed really fast which infuriated millions of people nationwide. Although, many people have benefited from this act. It was heavily funded by the federal government and it was made affordable to many people who were unable to afford healthcare before this act was passed. The Affordable health care act is also known as the Obama act because he was the president that passed the act and made it into a law to help those in need to have an affordable healthcare that allows people to have an equal healthcare system, and president Barak Obama also wanted to aid in decreasing the cost of healthcare which had been rising over the years. The Affordable Care Act was later amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation act of 2010, and collectively they started to be called the ACA, or the affordable healthcare act. This was determined by the congressional budget office, and this bill was thought to have positive changes for Americans and the whole nation because it was promised to ensure about 94% of the Americans with quality and affordable health care, this act was also seen to reduce the United States' deficit for the next ten years, and beyond!

Prior to passing the ACA, many citizens and non citizens of the United States of America were uninsured, insurers still maintained the ability to deny the coverage due to what they claimed to be pre-existing conditions in which patients had that led to their current conditions. By doing so, many patients were experiencing inequalities in the healthcare field.

==== Benefits ==== Even through the ACA was not very popular in 2010 when it was passed, it did offer many benefits to ensure that citizens did get the quality healthcare that they deserved, despite the conditions in which were pre-existing that could have led to some current conditions. This new law allowed children who were dependent to be able to use their parents insurance until the age of 26, and the states that usually accept medicaid expansion will be eligible to receive federal assistance to cover the individuals and their families, up to 133% of the national poverty level. With this being said, the ACA had expanded the benefits to individuals who were insured and uninsured, which means that the mortality rates were being reduced, more people had access to equal health care and people no longer had to deal with insurance carriers that blamed patients for having prior diagnosis which led to current conditions.

==== Challenges ==== Even though the ACA provides many benefits, it also encounters many challenges such as the fact that the Supreme Court is making it optional for the state to choose whether or not they want to expand medicaid eligibility for patients, this will result in significant consequences for the citizens who reside in different states who have opted out to not have enough support of the universal health care plan which was offered due to the law being passed. Another challenge that the healthcare professionals and the system had to face due to the ACA was finding and hiring professionals who specialized in elderly care, the elderly population seemed to increase due to the fact that there was equal health care provided for these persons.