The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed into law in 2010 and remains a reform law targeted at increasing health insurance coverage and transforming the healthcare industry. The ACA corresponds with the American Medical Association (AMA) policy (AMA, 2024). The act symbolizes a substantial initiative towards healthcare change, with the promise of developing a fair and accessible healthcare system. The ACA provides uninsured person access to significant healthcare services by offering affordable health plans via state markets (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2022). Also, the AMA has a commitment to healthcare professionals where it supports them in directing patients through these alterations and fighting for continuous changes to the ACA.
It is imperative to note that persons who were exempted from health coverage because of financial problems or preexisting disorders can now access affordable treatments via state health insurance markets. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2022), the landmark law has promoted the health of all patient populations, including communities of color and LGBTQI+ persons who can now access healthcare services (AMA, 2024). This change inspires patients to manage their health and wellness by mitigating obstacles to crucial healthcare services. Currently, Joe Biden’s Administration is focused on ensuring healthcare access to all Americans (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2022). One particular accomplishment of ACA on the health of women and families is the creation of health plans that cover preventive treatments such as breast and cervical cancer screening, STI counseling, and birth control and counseling for women.
The ACA plays a fundamental part in influencing the standards in my organization, including staffing, decision-making, and workplace issues. Under staffing, the ACA allows firms to recruit and maintain talent by providing crucial healthcare advantages to staff which ultimately promotes staff loyalty and satisfaction (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2022). In my health firm, I have witnessed that the healthcare benefits offered to health staff have sparked satisfaction among nurses, which has enhanced the quality of care provided. The negative implication of ACA concerning staffing is that it causes economic issues for health firms that offer healthcare coverage to workers. As such, it adversely affects staffing choices like recruitment, where I have observed how a healthcare firm had to stop recruiting staff to tackle the financial issue of providing staff health benefits.
Under decision-making, the ACA is rooted in preventive care and quality care frameworks, which inspire health firms to disburse resources to population health management and welfare programs. For instance, my health organization allocates a significant amount of resources for vaccination programs that promote health outcomes for infants. The negative impact of ACA on decision-making is that it may prompt health firms to reduce resources allocated to other crucial projects in the healthcare firm (AMA, 2024). I have observed that healthcare firms are decreasing the amount allocated to nurse staff training, which adversely impacts how healthcare firms enhance resilience and innovation. Concerning workplace problems, ACA impacts healthcare firms positively by enabling them to enhance the welfare of their staff and increase their performance in their duties (Voskerchyan, 2019). I have witnessed this positive impact in my workplace, which has developed a conducive working environment that results in satisfaction among workers. The negative impact of ACA is perpetuating workplace issues where the lack of healthcare advantages for employees can result in dissatisfaction among workers (Erickson, 2020). I have experienced this negative impact in my organization, where nurses encountered problems in healthcare benefits, which resulted in morale problems and the manner in which they provided care to patients.
References
AMA. (2024). Understanding the Affordable Care Act. Retrieved from AMA: https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/patient-support-advocacy/understanding-affordable-care-act#:~:text=The%20Affordable%20Care%20Act%20(ACA,a%20better%20health%20care%20system.
Erickson, K. (2020). Affordable Care Act (Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Northridge). https://scholarworks.csun.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/216207/Erickson-Katherine-thesis-2020.pdf?sequence=1
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2022). Fact Sheet: Celebrating the Affordable Care Act.
Voskerchyan, M. (2019). Affordable Care Act (Doctoral dissertation, California State University, Northridge). https://scholarworks.csun.edu/bitstream/handle/10211.3/213390/Voskerchyan-Mariana-thesis-2019.pdf?sequence=1
write