Health Care Reform- Integration And Reflection
The growing awareness of health and health implication has made more people discern good health. More people are now participating in health-promoting activities and maintain high-level alertness on issues that affects their general wellbeing and health. The desire by governments and other interest groups to keep and maintain a healthy population coupled with the people’s alertness to health maintenance has necessitated the formulation of various health care reforms. Health care reforms encompass all measures by the federal government, individual states, or even interest groups that are aimed at enhancing healthcare delivery (Manyazewal & Matlakala, 2018). These reforms are generally targeted at keeping people healthy. This paper seeks to recommendation for health care reforms and their compatibility with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you.
Recommendations
Several recommendations on health reforms have been made by various interest groups in the bid to enhance health service delivery. Such recommendations include but are not limited to the development of a federal health information technology infrastructure that is of good standard to enhance health information exchange, reduction of the cost of insurance while improving their workability, and establishment of an independent agency to evaluate and sponsor research activities.
Development of a Federal Health Information Technology Infrastructure
The efficiency of health service provision has been enhanced greatly by technology. Such technologies as electronic health records and health information exchange systems have improved the efficiency and quality of care by capturing, storing, and reproducing health data of individuals whenever they are needed at the point of care. This enhancement of health data handling by such technologies has not only minimized medical errors attributed to improper handling of patient’s data but has also provided a framework for consultation among the caregivers, provision of data on the current evidence-based modalities of treatment as well as enhance referral services to the patients, all of which improves efficiency and consequently the quality of care (Shuren & Califf, 2016). It is, therefore, necessary that reforms be made to establish a more robust system at the federal level that can cover a wider scope of the health provider and the patients.
Reduction of the Cost of Insurance While Improving Their Workability
There has been growing advocacy for the need to obtain health insurance both by the federal and states governments. However, these advocacy campaigns have not experienced the much-required turnaround in the proportion of persons seeking to have health insurance. The younger adult population is particularly hesitant, with only a few of them seeking to have health insurance. This has been attributed to the relatively higher cost of this insurance. There are recommendations to support efforts by states to expand Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the federal poverty level and to provide better tax credits offsets to younger adults. The cost of insurance could also be subsidized by capping on the tax exclusion of employer-based health insurance (Adepoju et al., 2015). The overall goal is to ensure that all Americans can access health insurance coverage by putting down measures that reduce its cost.
Establishment of an Independent Agency to Evaluate and Sponsor Research Activities
Scientific innovations centered on the effectiveness of drugs, treatment modalities, and technological sophistication of medical devices are particularly important to the mainstream health service delivery system. There is, therefore, a growing need to harmonize these research activities to ensure the attainment of quality service production. The formation of an independent umbrella body at the federal level that sponsors and evaluates these research activities is therefore necessary (Arrow, 2019). A recent example of such is Operation WARP speed, institutionalized by President Trump, which saw the development of the COVID-19 vaccine in record time. Such an institution is paramount in ensuring newer technologies that are safe and effective are utilized in health care provision.
How the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) Fits (or Does Not Fit) With the Recommendations
Whereas so many recommendations on health reforms have been made over time, not all have cooperated into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This federal act is aimed at enhancing healthcare provision and the health of individuals by making health affordable and expanding the Medicaid program. Some of the provisions are incompatible with the recommendations described above.
The PPAC act places great emphasis on the affordability of healthcare and has placed measures to reduce health insurance costs as well as expand the Medicaid program remarkably. By placing subsidies on the cost of insurance through premium tax credits as well as cost-sharing reductions, this act successfully reduced the cost of these insurances, making them affordable to many people. Medicaid eligibility has also ensured that many people are insured (French et al., 2016). These provisions from this act are in concert with some recommendations to improve insurance coverage by reducing the cost of insurance and expanding the Medicaid program.
The act also outlines reforms in the delivery systems. This includes all reforms that are targeted at lowering the cost of services while improving the quality. Encompass adoption of information technology in various hospitals such as electronic health records, coordination of care, as well as all measures to reduce hospital-acquired infections. These provisions are partly in concert with the recommendations. They, however, do not fully address some of the recommendations. Provisions of improving hospital information technology, for instance, are not fully addressed in this act, with the action focusing on an individualized hospital approach rather than the federal and state approach advocated for by some stakeholders. However, the provisions remain helpful as they enhance the efficiency to the hospitals that have adopted these technologies.
The act under the delivery system reforms highlights the need to coordinate care and includes the establishment of a Centre for Medicare and Medicaid innovations that are targeted at promoting research on health care. This provision is particularly important and has been attributed to various technologies that are available in the mainstream of care currently. However, it is not fully in concert with the recommendations postulated by other stakeholders. The scope of this program is rather narrow and does not provide the financial freedom that is much needed to carry out research activities.
Healthcare reforms are intended to improve the health of people by enhancing health services delivery. These reforms are postulated by governments, groups, and even at the individual level. Various interest groups have proposed a set of recommendations that needs to be adopted by the federal government. These recommendations touch majorly on health innovations and health insurance. The compatibility of these recommendations with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is, however, varied, with some fully in concert while others are partly in concert with these recommendations. However, most recommendations have been shown to promote health by improving service delivery.
References
Adepoju, O., Preston, M., & Gonzales, G. (2015). Health Care Disparities in the Post–Affordable Care Act Era. American Journal Of Public Health, 105(S5), S665-S667. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2015.302611
Arrow, K. (2009). Toward a 21st-Century Health Care System: Recommendations for Health Care Reform. Annals Of Internal Medicine, 150(7), 493. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-150-7-200904070-00115
French, M., Homer, J., Gumus, G., & Hickling, L. (2016). Key Provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA): A Systematic Review and Presentation of Early Research Findings. Health Services Research, 51(5), 1735-1771. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12511
Manyazewal, T., & Matlakala, M. (2018). Implementing health care reform: implications for the performance of public hospitals in central Ethiopia. Journal Of Global Health, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.08.010403
Shuren, J., & Califf, R. (2016). Need for a National Evaluation System for Health Technology. JAMA, 316(11), 1153. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.8708
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Question 
HEALTHCARE REFORM/ INTEGRATION AND REFLECTION
Case Assignment
The healthcare reform debate is not a new one. The plan for a national system was a Hillary Clinton platform when she was First Lady. In 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). President Donald Trump is now looking to “repeal and replace” the PPACA.
Health Care Reform- Integration And Reflection
It is incumbent on us all to become as informed about healthcare reform as possible because it affects us, our families, and our loved ones. Use the module readings and your own research to respond to the following questions:
List and briefly describe 3 of the recommendations for health care reform from experts, interest groups, etc.
Discuss how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) fits (or does not fit) with the recommendations.
Length: Submit a 3-page paper, not including the cover page and the reference list.