This article, written by Craig B. Garner and David A. McCabe, was first published in the Journal Health, Culture and Society, Vol. 3, No. 1, on November 16, 2012.
Introduction
Today’s healthcare climate is one of uncertainty, with the longstanding bond between doctor and patient growing ever more tenuous as the nation reacts to fundamental changes within its healthcare structure. Since March 2010, when President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act[1] as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act[2] (collectively referred to as the Affordable Care Act or “ACA”), the federal government has continued to release information aimed at clarifying and expanding upon the original 2,700 pages of codified reform. At its core, ACA seeks to prohibit health insurers from denying coverage or refusing claims based on pre-existing conditions, expand Medicaid eligibility, subsidize insurance premiums, provide incentives for businesses to offer healthcare benefits, and increase support for medical research.
As the implementation of these new programs, partnerships, preventative care measures, competitions and grants steals headlines daily, ACA’s ramifications underscore the ways in which the Federal government has increased its presence in healthcare in an effort to ensure that the allocated trillion dollars in federal funding remains accountable. Arguments made by both critics and supporters of ACA have become all too familiar in the ongoing debates, with each side citing the nation’s growing economic crisis as a major factor in ACA’s future. … Read more →