RUNNING HEAD: COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT

Community Problem Report: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Brianna Moreno, Chad Hampton, Xochitl Villalobos The University of Texas at El Paso

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT Introduction On October 1, 2013 the United States government shut down due to the political leaders debating budget cuts. The focus of these debates is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) commonly called the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In March of 2010, President Obama introduced the ACA. The following is written to clear common misconceptions and improve the knowledge of citizens who do not understand the impact this law can make. The following addresses these questions: How does having access to federally funded healthcare affect the country? How does the public perceive the Affordable Care Act? How does a lack of coverage affect the individual? How Does Having Access to Federally Funded Healthcare Affect The Country?

Having access to federally funded healthcare can make a huge difference in the way that a country is run and how the population is being taken care of. In the article Where in the World Can You Get Universal Healthcare? Park explains that there are many different countries that provide federally funded healthcare for their populations. For example South Korea, Chile, and Kuwait, are all on the list of countries that provide federally funded healthcare to their citizens. They all have shown that having the government provide the healthcare service is helpful to the countries life, as well as helpful for the people who live in those countries. The researchers at CNN in the article Where in the World Can You Get Universal Healthcare? has shown that having this federally funded healthcare has helped drop infant mortality rates in most of the countries listed. It has helped keep pregnant women safe by having midwives provided in their healthcare programs. Many of these countries have private insurance as well as the federally funded healthcare insurance, private insurances are used mostly by the wealthier families, most of the people just stick with the federally funded insurance.

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT In all of these countries the government has budgeted to be able to pay for everyones healthcare coverage; this shows how important healthcare is. It shows that people are dependent on the way that the healthcare is supplied, because they can go to the doctor and not have to worry about the way that their visit will be paid for. Without proper access to healthcare professionals, the people may not have enough money to pay for the treatments necessary such as the visit itself or x-rays that may be required. It also helps to pay for any of the prescriptions

that may be given to the patient. In most of the countries mentioned before, it has been passed as a law and made a major priority to the population of these countries. Countries such as Kuwait and South Korea are a part of the WHO (World Health Organization) foundation. This foundation helps to keep the funding for the federal healthcare. In the article Healthcare Access (Allen, 2011 Paragraph 1) it explains that the United States healthcare is all about preventing the things to happen. These countries have ways of not only preventing but also treating all kinds of diseases and illnesses that already exist. In the United States we have Medicaid, but is only helpful to people with extremely low incomes pay for their insurance. Medicaid is not well funded and most places do not accept this kind of insurance. Medicaid has a small rate of reimbursement and does not usually cover big or expensive medical treatments, such as Cancer treatments and different kinds of transplants (Allan 2011, Paragraph 11). This means that Medicaid usually only pays for things like normal checkups and it is very difficult to get something serious handled when dealing with this insurance. There is also a long list of barriers (Allen, 2011 Paragraph 10) in Medicaid. For example, not enough donor organs for transplant, not enough primary care physiciansetc. Another thing that influences the insurance is the regions in which the person needing the coverage lives.

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT With the regions there are limited supplies, and there may not be the doctors offices to be able and supply the help that the community needs. In rural areas there are fewer offices than in cities. There are limited funds for all the things that most people need and this is why it is hard for the people to get the treatments.

There is still a lot of discussion about whether healthcare should be treated as a consumer product and provided for everyone or if the healthcare should continue to be paid by the individual families. There is also a lot of talk about what is the most effective way to provide healthcare, this is a very hot topic that has a lot of different opinions. How Does the Public Perceive the Affordable Care Act? It has been three years since the Affordable Care Act, or the ACA, has first debuted in 2010. According to the online article The Public Opinion of the Healthcare Law (Jennifer De Pinto, 2012, paragraph 1), it has been known as President Barack Obamas signature piece of legislation and is commonly referred to as Obama care. Since then, this healthcare reform has been negatively perceived by both the public and various political parties as stated in Selling Healthcare Reform (The Editorial Board, 2013, paragraph 1). Majority of the Republican Party disapproves of this movement along with more than half of the Independents as well. The Democratic Party is one of the very few that show approval of the reform with 56% in favor. While the public has voted, polls show that those in favor have never reached more than 50%. The highest it had ever been recorded was 47%. These percentages were able to be provided by the article Healthcare Reform Survey Shows Public Undivided and Unaware about Key Benefits (Jeffrey Young, 2013, paragraph 1). It is estimated that by next year, the number of votes in favor will significantly decrease. Pro- ACA groups and parties express that all negativity and concern for this new reform is purely a result from misunderstanding. They believe, as well as

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT the Obama administration, that once the public becomes more informed as to what exactly is being offered, the votes in favor should considerably rise. What is most understood and supported is that those in the lower class who were previously unable to receive any sort of healthcare now can (Bernstein, paragraph 7); however, there is still concern of increasing costs and other unknown payments. Another concern is what sort of new problems may arise as a result of certain implementations of the new healthcare reform and exactly who or what is going to be covered. What most Americans are unaware of is that some aspects of the new reform are already currently in effect. It is estimated that about 8590% of the people are now benefitting from it without even knowing in ways such as how insurance is now more secure, insurance companies cannot drop its clients for unjustifiable reasons, kids can stay on their parents health insurance until they are 26, and clients are getting free preventative healthcare (Rescissions and the Public Opinion Problems of Healthcare Reform, Jonathan Bernstein, n.d., paragraph 3). This makes a lot of people a little uneasy due to the fact that they do not feel like they have much control over their health insurance as they feel the right to. Many believe that the government should not play so large of a role in this issue while the government insists that there are so many key benefits such as these that are being ignored. This is the root of the Affordable Care Act issue. The public seems to be in a state of mass confusion to a point where they are unable to conjure up a proper and informed opinion resulting in negative votes (Bernstein, n.d., paragraph 4). Therefore, President Obama, Vice President Biden, and former President Clinton are all traveling west in order to try campaigning the healthcare reform in order to clear up any confusion and concerns that the public has (The Editorial Board, 2013, paragraph 2). The hopes for the Obama administration are for this tour to

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT result in a more favorable response from America. According to various news articles and sources such as the article How Do Americans Really Feel about Health Care by Linda Wertheimer (2009), many citizens are more inclined to believe political parties and groups who

are able to discuss the ACA with clarity and consistency. What gives the people who are in favor of a new reform hope is if the current attempt at a new healthcare is compared to those attempted in the past. Despite many negative votes toward the new reform, the ACA has received the most positive feedback than any other incident of a whole new healthcare reform in the history of the United States. There has never been a time when the public has felt completely comfortable with a new reform and, in fact, todays public seems to have a better idea. About a third of the American population feels that instead of completely rebuilding a new form of healthcare, only certain issues should be tended to. Seeing as how much of public feels that healthcare is currently not an important issue in America, fixing problems that are currently at hand with the healthcare issues that are being faced now sounds like a much better idea than building from the bottom up (De Pinto, 2012, paragraph 4). This way, the public feels it is much more safe and secure. Some may say that America is not yet ready for a healthcare reform (De Pinto, 2012, paragraph 4); however, this may only be speculation due to the fact that since 2009, only 5% of United States citizens have expressed concern for Americas healthcare. The top public concern for the past five years has been the economy (De Pinto, 2012, paragraph 12). How does a lack of healthcare affect the individual? Access to reliable healthcare is important to an individuals health. The affects are not only physical but emotional as well. According to several reports by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), our nations medical adviser, determined being uninsured is hazardous to peoples

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health (IOM, 2009, Pg. 1). Most people neglect getting health insurance or even simply going to the doctor because of the cost; this is well known all over the country and in the most peoples lives of family and close friends. Finding affordable care has been a huge problem in recent past. The Commonwealth Fund had researchers: C. Shoen, M. Doty, S. Collins, and A. Holgrem, study insured peoples coverage, using the information they found to write Insured but not protected: How many adults are underinsured? The researchers found that there were roughly 45 million uninsured people in our country and an additional 16 million underinsured (Shoen, Doty, Collins, & Holgrem, 2005). Since insurance comes in different degrees of coverage there are many people who simply do not have enough. The problem is that people are paying not only high premiums, but they are less likely to see a healthcare provider. Schoen et al. discovered that the underinsured are seeing doctors about as seldom as the uninsured (Schoen et al. 2005). It has also come to the attention of Schoen et al. that those individuals who are underinsured and do see their doctors, have a multitude of health concerns because they are attempting to stretch a dollar. J. Harper, a writer for U.S. News, found that many people, rather than take a whole pill, people are halving pills to cut costs (Harper, 2012). While this may be an effective method to save money some people do not realize there is a fine line between a dose that is helpful and one that may cause harm. If one were to take too small of a dose, the condition the medicine was prescribed for is ultimately going untreated. In some cases bacteria or an individuals body can become resistant to the drug, which may cause a full dose to be less effective or ineffective. There has been a drop in employer-sponsored insurance. The jobs that have always covered employees such as factories have dropped in the US. IOM found jobs that traditionally

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT do not offer insurance, such as part-time work in industries like retail, have become more relied upon in the last decade (2009). The reality of the matter is that both employers and employees alike benefit from insured employees. Chances are they will retain employee because they are healthier and people who opt to use their employers insurance have less sick days. After

interviews that when an employer invests in their employees, they notice that employee are more likely to enjoy their job, part of this is because they think they are more important when they are offered benefits (Harper, 2012). As stated before many people are not offered benefits and are uninsured. Cost of healthcare is a reoccurring theme discussed in America. C. Hill, a writer for the Livestrong Foundation, wrote that insurance is the most common way people pay for medical care. Lacking coverage whether you are underinsured or uninsured greatly affect many individuals pocketbooks (Hill, 2010). When the person who supports a household becomes ill and are beyond over-the-counter medicines aid, they may choose to see a doctor. The cost of doing so without insurance can be crippling, especially when a sickness causes the head of the household to lose their job; this may result in bankruptcy, foreclosure and other financial disparities. The Affordable Care Act insures that people will be able to get the coverage they need at a rate they can pay. Conclusion Today, the United States is still in a state of change and progress will continue to be made in regards to todays healthcare. Citizens around the country will continue to see changes and experience history in the making. The people of America will be the ones to influence and ultimately decide what path will be taken for the better of the country and its population. As you see, simple misconceptions may skew the publics opinion. The ACA is a good method to

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT protect the citizens health. With citizens being healthy money is made, allowing them to avoid

incurring debt due to medical issues. It does not just help a single person but the entire country as a whole.

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT References Allen, G. (2011, June 08). Healthcare Access. Retrieved from: http://ethics.missouri.edu/Healthcare-Access.aspx

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Bernstein, J. (April 30). Rescissions and the Public Opinion Problems of Health- Care Reform. Washington Post. Retrieved from:http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/postpartisan/wp/2013/04/30/rescissions-and-the-public-opinion-problems-of-health-carereform/ Collins, S.R., Doty, M., Holmgren, A., Schoen, C., (2005, June). Insured But Not Protected:How Many Adults Are Underinsured. Retrieved from http://www.commonwealthfund.org/ Publications/In-the-Literature/2005/Jun/Insured-But-Not-Protected--How-Many-AdultsAre-Underinsured.aspx De Pinto, J. (June 28, 2012). Public Opinion of the Health Care Law. CBSNEWS. Retrieved from:http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57462689/ Harper, J. (2012, Aug. 28). 7 Reasons to Take Advantage Of Employee Healthcare Benefits. U.S. News. Retrieved from http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2012/08/28/7reasons-to-take-advantage-of-employee-healthcare-benefits Hill, C. (2010, June 27). The Effect of Not Having Health Insurance on Personal Finances. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/158490-the-effects-of-not-havinghealth-insurance-on-personal-finances/ Hughes, D. (2012). Health Care and Children The Importance of Access, The Role of Insurance, The Limitations of Insurance, Conclusion. Retrieved from: http://educaton.stateuniversity.com/pages/2034/Health-Care-Children.html

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT Park, M. (2012, June 29). Which Nations Give You Health Care? Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/28/health/countries-health-care/?c=&page=0 Institute of Medicine (2009, Feb). Americas Uninsured Crisis: Consequences for Health and Healthcare, Report brief. Washington DC: National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/americasuninsuredcrisis The Editorial Board. (September 5, 2013). Selling Health Care Reform. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/opinion/selling-health-carereform.html?_r=0 Wertheimer, L. (August 18, 2009). How Do Americas Really Feel About Health Care? NPR. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111992539 Young, J. (March 20, 2013). Health Care Reform Survey Shows Public Divided and Unaware About Key Benefits. Huffington Post. Retrieved from:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/health-care-reformsurvey_n_2915826.html

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