Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Introduction

Affordable Care Act, ACA refers to comprehensive healthcare reforms that deal with healthcare costs, insurance coverage, and preventive care (Eguia et al. 2018). Here are some of its components that have improved healthcare as well as reduced the cost of healthcare services;

Patient ambulatory services

The ambulatory services are those provided on outpatient terms: diagnosis, surveillance, discussion, medication, intervention, and rehabilitation purposes. This type of care uses advanced medical systems and steps even though they are offered outside the hospital. Patient ambulatory services have more personalized care that enables patients to go home and continue their routine and lives more easily. There is no overnight stay for patients in hospitals, indicating it as a time-saving activity for both patients and medical practitioners. In addition, healthcare offers a conducive treatment environment for the patient since the medical practitioner entirely focuses on them without disturbances such as attending to other patients. The ambulatory services offer services at relatively lower costs since there are no additional costs like charges on overnight stays as in the hospitals (France, 2008). In addition, both private and public payers can reimburse the facilities at a lesser price than hospital outpatient care.

Hospitalization

Hospitalization is the act of being recommended to stay in hospital due to a bad health condition till the situation gets better or you get completely healed. The activities include medication and other necessary care services until discharge. When quality healthcare services are given, there is an absolute effect on the outcomes. This, in turn, contributes to more fashionable patient recovery results. It can lead to a better mental and physical quality of life for individuals undergoing severe conditions like cancer and other chronic diseases. Hospitalization can reduce the costs of healthcare services in the following ways; bringing intensive care nearer to the patients as hospitals are a one-stop centre for a wide variety of care services. In addition, hospitalization helps reduce medical expenses through state medical laws and government intervention practices (France, 2008).

Medications on prescription

Prescription medicine is a pharmaceutical drug that requires a legal prescription to be used; a qualified medical practitioner or pharmacist does such remedy that the laws have approved of their state of operation (Ye & Rodriguez, 2021). Medications on prescription have played a significant role in improving healthcare services in so many ways; the medicines help in pain relief, controlling an individual’s blood pressure, keeping track of blood sugar, and curing infections. These medications are easy to handle and readily available in wider zones to reach out to almost all the citizens across the nation and beyond. This has increased the access to healthcare services by a more considerable percentage hence improving healthcare. The cost of acquiring medication prescription is relatively cheaper than other methods and efficient since the patient will only need instructions on the drugs and avoid additional medication costs.

Conclusion

In summary, patient ambulatory services, hospitalization, and medications on prescription, among other unmentioned services, through ACA, have played more significant roles in coming up with better healthcare and minimizing medical costs.

References

Eguia, E., Cobb, A. N., Kothari, A. N., Molefe, A., Afshar, M., Aranha, G. V., & Kuo, P. C. (2018). Impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion on cancer admissions and surgeries. Annals of surgery, 268(4), 584.

Ye, W., & Rodriguez, J. M. (2021). Highly vulnerable communities and the Affordable Care Act: Health insurance coverage effects, 2010–2018. Social Science & Medicine, 270, 113670.

France, G. (2008). The form and context of federalism: meanings for health care financing. Journal of Health Politics, Policy & Law, 33(4), 649-705. https://www.nihcm.org/ (Links to an external site.)