The purpose of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) health care reform was to make health insurance affordable for those who didn’t have it through employers, the subsidized Health Insurance Marketplace or on the private market. It may have been a tough first year, with kinks still to be worked out, but reports are that more than 7 million Americans, who did not have health insurance or had unaffordable coverage, signed up in 2014. This is only the first step to fixing the health care delivery system in the United States. Unfortunately, there are many important details you will need to understand to get the coverage you are looking for, at an affordable price.
The phrase “Health Care Reform” has many connotations. It can refer to changes in government policies, improving health care delivery, changes in the how insurance is paid for, as well as improving the actual care delivered to you and others. Through the years, many health care reform efforts have been attempted in the United States. There have been discussions about universal health care models like those in Canada and the United Kingdom, improving outcomes in hospitals, and more. In general, here are some ways the U.S. has tried to reform health care, medical insurance and the delivery of care with the ACA and other legislation:
Better Policy Options for Small Businesses and Individuals: Small employers or individuals have traditionally paid more for health insurance than large employers. This is changing with the introduction of new plan designs, tax credits for small employers, etc.
Further reforms are undoubtedly needed to improve the health care actually delivered. Numerous studies have shown that the health care system in the U.S. is overpriced and ineffective. Health Care in the U.S. is the world’s most expensive with care costing more per person and a greater portion of gross domestic product than other nations. In spite of the money expended, the U.S. is last in quality of health care among developed countries, according to the 2008 Commonwealth Fund report. The World Health Organization ranked the U.S. system 72nd out of 191 member nations in 2000. Another sobering statistic that came out this year is that maternal deaths in the U.S. are increasing and the U.S. mortality rate is more than double rates in Canada and Saudi Arabia. It is three time the rate for the United Kingdom. In fact, the U.S. is now number 60 out of 180 countries.
