Primary care access is a growing concern for all Americans and the reason behind this concern is an imbalance between demand for care and capacity to provide care. Demand is growing as the population expands, ages, and faces chronic illnesses and the capacity is shrinking as the ration of primary care clinicians to population drops (Ghorob & Bodenheimer, 2012). A primary goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to improve access to quality health care for uninsured Americans, largely through public and private insurance expansions (Polsky et al, 2015). At the same time, the architects of the law recognized the need to increase the availability of primary care providers to meet the increased demand for health care (Pg. 538, 2015). Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased the number of insured, the problem of access to primary care still remains an issue due to the large pool of individuals who are now receiving coverage. Nonetheless, even if the current health care reform debate increases insurance coverage, residents in areas with inadequate physician supply will still have greater difficulty receiving timely and appropriate clinical care (Walker et al. 2010). Over the last decade the healthcare system has continues with relatively the same level of access to care for most Americans, and although there is an upwards of 84% of Americans have some form of insurance, the rising cost of care, the large group of uninsured and underinsured, and the lack of focus on
The aim of the ACA is to provide affordable health care to all Americans, but it still leaves some issues unaddressed that will impact the access to health care. Covino (n.d.), “Though the intentions of the legislation are good, the Affordable Care Act does little to improve the actual health care delivery system” (para.1, page 2). According to the American Medical Association, we are facing an increasing Physician shortage. As of 2010 we faced a shortfall of 13,700 physicians, the estimate is that number will increase to 62,900 by 2015, 91,500 by 2020, and 130,600 by 2025 (Krupa, n.d.), with primary care taking the largest impact. Health Care coverage will be of no benefit if there are no doctors to treat the patients. An example of this occurred in 2002 when Thailand’s’ “30 Bhat Scheme” added (CNN n.d.) “14 million people to the country’s health care system, resulting in long waits and subpar service” (Your health is covered, but who is going to treat you?) Several factors contribute to the physician shortage. Many physicians are reaching the age of retirement, the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates nearly 15 million physicians will be eligible for Medicare in the coming years (CNN n.d.). The increasing cost of malpractice insurance also deters many from pursuing a career in medicine, and is forcing some doctors to retire. Also contributing to the physician shortage is a lack of spots in residency programs. “In 2011, more than 7,000 were left
In a survey conducted in 2003, it highlighted that the recurrent problem is the reimbursement rate from Medicaid to the physician (O’Shea, 2007). The Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) show that 21% of physicians that state they accept Medicaid have reported they will not accept a new Medicaid patient in 2004-2005(O’Shea, 2007). This number would only logically be assumed to have risen in 2013 A survey conducted by the U.S. National Health reported that researchers have found two standout trends among Medicaid beneficiaries: they have more difficulty getting primary care and specialty care and they visit hospital emergency departments more often than those with private insurance (Seaberg, 2012). The lack of primary and specialty care access is mostly contributed to the following barriers; unable to reach the MD by phone, not having a timely appointment with the MD and lastly unable to find a specialty MD that will accept Medicaid. In a recent report released by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, it stated that about 30% of Medicaid patients experience “extreme uncoordinated care”, there is a strong correlation between this situation and higher Medicaid spending and less quality of care given (Bush, 2012). After January 1st 2013, healthcare providers have experienced a 2% reduction in payments for Medicaid beneficiary, this will only create more of a problem for these patients to seek the
The new federal health-care law has raised the stakes for hospitals and schools already struggling to train more doctors. Evidence suggests there won’t be enough number of doctors to treat the newly insured millions under the ACA. At current graduation and training rates, America faces a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The greatest demand will be for primary-care physicians. Emergency rooms, the only choice for patients who can't find care elsewhere, may grow even more with longer wait times under the new health law. That might come as a surprise to those who thought getting 32 million more people covered by health insurance would ease ER
The rapidly rising cost of health care in the United States has made access to medical care difficult for many citizens. Additionally, the number of uninsured is increasing because of job loss and reduction of employee benefits. This trend is projected to continue. The negative effect of reduced access to health care may have alarming effects on the economic well-being of the nation. The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) marks the beginning of significant transformation in the United States’ health care systems. After multiple attempts to reform health care over the years, the nation’s leaders have succeeded in pushing through this landmark legislation that will ensure most Americans will have access to
Currently, there is still a large shortage of primary care practitioners in the United States. The margin between available providers and those in need continues to grow. Many people without proper access to care have to delay seeking help for what ails them ("Health Wanted," 2012). Glicken & Miller (2013) state that approximately 16,000 primary care providers would be necessary to meet the existing demand. Rural communities would represent the area of greatest need followed closely by low-income urban areas. The number of underserved individuals is estimated to have reached fifty-seven million. This demand will only increase, as 52,000 primary care providers are expected to be needed by the year 2025 (Glicken & Miller, 2013, p.1883-1889).
With the implementation of any new program there are bound to be unforeseen errors that causes the plan to be seen as failing when in reality it is just working through some issues. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is going through that process right now. A simple example to point to is the website that was built for the new healthcare system crashing when it was launched. The ACA is also exposing flaws in how healthcare is funded and also projected. With an estimated 32 million people gaining access to healthcare sharing of patient information is going to be vital, new technology will have to emerge to help with the surge of patient information. Along with the expansion of access to healthcare it is exposing the lack of qualified
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was created by President Obama back in March 2010 to help reduce healthcare costs and improve healthcare quality for uninsured Americans. The ACA was implemented to reduce the cost that was growing with Medicare and Medicaid because they have increased over the years threatening the entire federal budget (Amadeo, 2017). People who are not working and are unable to cover their healthcare expenses usually end up on Medicaid which is paid for by the government. The others who are over the age of 65 are on Medicare and have their premiums supported by the federal government. However, people who make too much money or who are too young to qualify for either
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a primary debate topic since it was enacted in 2010. The conservatives completely disagree with the Affordable Care Act and believe that “Democrats used it as an assertion of power than they used it to improve health care conditions” (“Republican Views on Health Care”, 2014). They believe that the act was a waste of taxpayer’s dollars and would inevitably ruin our health care system. In contrast, the liberals supported the ACA and “pride themselves on the fact that health care costs are growing at the slowest rate since 1960” (“Democratic View on Health Care”, 2014). The liberals believe that every American should have access to health care by making premiums affordable. However, in order to do so
The Affordable Care Act is one of the new policy that provides Americans with better health security by putting in place comprehensive health insurance reforms. It allows people to have expand coverage. Now a child can stay under his parents insurance until age 26. The ACA holds insurance responsible by dropping health care while guarantees more choices and enhance the quality of care. The ACA facilitates long-term care services to help people whom such care need receive it and to find ways to help make such care available not only in organizations but also in the public. They try to eliminate non-discrimination language that will restrict health insurance companies from discriminating against any health care provider. The ACA includes policies
Health care in the United States is driven by a patchwork of services and financing. Americans access health care services in a variety of ways — from private physicians’ offices, to public hospitals, to safety-net providers. This diverse network of health care providers is supported by an equally diverse set of funding streams. The United States spends almost twice as much on health care as any other country, topping $2 trillion each year. (WHO.INT 2000) However, even with overall spending amounting to more than $7,400 per person, millions of individuals cannot access the health care services they need.(Foundation 2009) So when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a the Affordable Care Act or ACA) was passed in the summer
The Affordable Care Act set forth millions of dollars to address the problems and concerns that are associated with existing physicians shortages. The Affordable Care Act also has provisions that are aimed to improve the education, ongoing training as well as to help with the recruitment of nursing, physicians, doctors as well as other health care personnel. In addition, there are provisions in place that help to increase workforces’ cultural competency, enhance faculty training of healthcare professionals, and diversity. The provisions also play a vital role because of the fact they are put into place to examine innovative reimbursement and care delivery models that highlight primary care services value and offer in improvement in the patient care coordination.
The United States has a unique system of healthcare delivery, it is complex and massive. Twenty-five years ago; American citizens had guaranteed insurance, meaning the patient could see any physician and the insurance companies and patients would share the cost. But today, 187.4 million Americans have private health insurance coverage (Medicaid, 2014). The subsystems of American health care delivery are Managed care, military, vulnerable populations and integrated delivery
Eliminating the barriers to access of care starts with the extended health insurance coverage offered through the ACA. The Shortage of healthcare providers in areas- opens a window of
One of the major challenges facing the health delivery system today is governmental policies; the availability of doctors for the increasing number of patients. Currently the United States spends approximately $2.2 trillion on healthcare (Sayles, 2013). Healthcare has become multifaceted, this includes more specialists for chronic health care issues and the inclusion on technologies in the delivery of healthcare (DeVry University, 2015). The Affordable Care Act was developed to improve people’s access to health insurance and healthcare in the United States. However, this policy change enables millions more individual to get healthcare without and an immediate increase in the number of physicians and specialists. 2.8 million more healthcare
American lifestyle has changed over the past 100 years and a about 80 percent of the Americans live in urban areas compared to only 19 percent of the population which lives in rural areas according to the 2010 consensus. Our urban centers have some of the best hospitals in the world with the latest treatment to many diseases that were fatal just a century ago. However the same advances in health care have not been enjoyed by rural hospital and medical centers due to simple economics. United States government has been working very hard to ensure that every American receives the same primary care regardless of the location. These services include but are not limited to specialties such as family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics