The Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed early last decade, has generated controversial responses from politicians and the public in the United States. A comprehensive assessment is needed to understand its impact on society and health facilities. One of the advantages of ACA is that it “covers many screenings and preventive services” (Roland, 2019, para. 15). Health care providers now have a more realistic picture of the health of a population and can design and implement more effective health promotion practices and disease prevention measures. One of the primary goals of the ACA was to make health insurance for minorities more affordable, which lawmakers have successfully achieved. According to Buchmueller et al. (2016), “the ACA has reduced racial/ethnic disparities in coverage” (p. 1416). It made it possible for local clinics and hospitals to provide more health services to minority populations that previously faced barriers to accessing them.
ACA also strengthens medical ethics, especially the ninth principle. According to the American Medical Association (n.d.), “a physician shall support access to medical care for all people” (para. 10). These ethical principles are based not only on secular norms and human rights but also on religious tenets. With ACA being implemented, health workers now have more opportunities to follow the precepts of Jesus, who told people to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils” (King James Bible, 1796/2017, Matthew 10:8). Therefore, one can safely say that ACA improves medical ethics by providing physicians with more access to more patients.
ACA has also brought new challenges to healthcare facilities. When there is an increased number of people with health insurance, clinics and hospitals need more qualified personnel. It means increased financial costs for salaries and other employer obligations to the employee for healthcare organizations. It also leads to high costs of managerial, organizational, and material resources. Another challenge doctors and nurses have faced in the new work setting that ACA has brought is the higher workload that leads to burnout and stress (Dall’Ora et al., 2020). A large number of new patients also means a drop in the quality of care for small clinics and hospitals (Roland, 2019). ACA poses a challenge to healthcare facility leaders and managers to develop new management and organizational strategies and improve existing ones.
References
American Medical Association. (n.d.). AMA principles of medical ethics. American Medical Association. Web.
Buchmueller, T. C., Levinson, Z. M., Levy, H. G., & Wolfe, B. L. (2016). Effect of the Affordable Care Act on racial and ethnic disparities in health insurance coverage. American Journal of Public Health, 106(8), 1416-1421. Web.
Dall’Ora, C., Ball, J., Reinius, M., & Griffiths, P. (2020). Burnout in nursing: A theoretical review. Human Resources for Health, 18(41), 1-17. Web.
King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. Web.
Roland, J. (2019). The pros and cons of Obamacare. Healthline. Web.