The U.S. spends more money per capita on healthcare when compared to other developed countries. Both state- and federal-level alternatives highlight access to care and cost of care. The ACA has impacted all health policy options. Review Case 5, "Key Features of the Affordable Care Act, by Year," in Chapter 5 of your textbook. Then, review alternate scholarly sources (Asford's Library or scholarly health policy journals) and discuss the following questions in a minimum of 250 words-
Are the key issues of the law highlighted? Provide a rationale.
What are the key changes to the implementation of the ACA over the years?
What are some of the debates concerning the ACA? Provide scholarly research.
CASE: The following time line describes the key features of the ACA and the year of implementation as provided by the HealthCare.gov website (HealthCare.gov, 2013).
2010 New Consumer Protections
• Putting information for consumers online. The law provides for sites where consumers can compare health insurance cover- age options and pick the coverage that works for them.
• Prohibiting denying coverage of children based on preex- isting conditions. New rules to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to children under the age of 19 due to a preexisting condition.
• Prohibiting insurance companies from rescinding coverage. In the past, insurance companies could search for an error, or other technical mistake, on a customer's application and use this error to deny payment for services when he or she got sick. The health care law makes this illegal.
• Eliminating lifetime limits on insurance coverage. Insurance companies are prohibited from imposing lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits, like hospital stays.
• Regulating annual limits on insurance coverage. Under the law, insurance companies' use of annual dollar limits on the amount of insurance coverage a patient may receive will be restricted for new plans in the individual market and all group plans. In 2014, the use of annual dollar limits on essential benefits like hospital stays will be banned for new plans in the individual market and all group plans.