Walden – NURS 6050 Discussion Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Sample

Walden University – NURS 6050 Discussion Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Sample Paper

NURS 6050 Discussion Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act sample

The U.S. Federal Government is made up of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. To ensure the government is effective and citizen’s rights are protected, each branch has its powers and responsibilities, including working with the other branches. The legislative branch is made up of the House and Senate, known collectively as the Congress. Among other powers, the legislative branch makes all laws, declares war, regulates interstate and foreign commerce, and controls taxing and spending policies. (United States House of Representatives, n.d.).

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The members of the house are elected every two years. In general, the elected officials usually have much passion and want to make good policy during their terms. Many come to their respective legislative bodies because they want to make a difference and be part of good government (National Council for the Social Studies, n.d.). NURS 6050 Discussion Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act SAMPLE

One of the most essential policies enacted by the legislators is the ACA (Affordable Care Act), famously known as Obamacare, a comprehensive care reform law enacted in March 2010. The three main goals of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) are: to make affordable health insurance available to more people, enhance Medicaid programs, and support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care (Health Care, n.d.). However, some conservatives objected to the policy. It is because of the increase and high insurance premiums that we need to pay for Obamacare. They also think that it may have adverse effects on the quality of care. According to Laureate (2018), the ACA (Affordable Care Act) passed without Republicans’ signatures. After it was passed and implemented, half of the states, led by either Republican governors or legislatures, are actively challenging or ignoring the law. So it is clear that obviously, politics is playing a significant role in both the design at the outset and now the implementation of the ACA (Affordable Care Act). During Trump’s administration, the republicans tried to replace the ACA (Affordable Care Act) with AHCA (American Health Care Act). The AHCA (American Health Care Act) ensures more affordable health by not requiring everyone to buy the insurance and not paying penalties if they decide to buy later. However, the AHCA (American Health Care Act) has not to get the majority of the vote and has not become a law. According to a national poll done by Quinnipiac University, 56% of American voters disapproved of the AHCA, and 46% of voters said they would be less likely to vote for their representative if they supported the AHCA. If doing the right thing wasn’t enough to get Republican representatives to oppose the bill, knowing that they could lose their seats in the next election sure was (Iyamah J., 2017).

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The number one job of a legislator is to be re-elected. Legislators want to remain in office or at least leave on their terms. In order to find the support to be re-elected continually, legislators must be aware of not only the political climate but also how specific votes will affect their ability to stay in office. They must consider the will of their constituents, the needs of their state, and the desire of their party (National Council for the Social Studies, n.d.). Once legislators win a seat, they are expected to make good decisions on whom they support and what advocacy they champion. In a cost-benefit analysis, the making of policy and law should pass a stringent process. They need to influence other legislators with their arguments. Sufficient data and research should support a bill to pass a debate and move to the Senate. The bill needs the majority of the votes in order for it to be a policy. If a legislator did not re-elect, the policy they make or amends could be dismantled. In order for a bill to be a policy, a legislator needs support from the officials. The policy should cover the greater good of the population. The re-election of a legislator means continuity of the policy they started or a chance to repeal a current policy.

NURS 6050 Discussion Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act SAMPLE References

Health Care.gov (n.d.). Affordable Care Act (ACA). Retrieved from https://healthcare.gov/glossary/affordable-care-act/

Imayah, J. (2017). Why did the American Health Care Act Fail?. Friends Committee on National Legislation. Retrieved from https://fcnl.org/updates/2017-04/why-did-american-health-care-act-fail

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Introduction to Health Policy and Law with Joel Teitelbaum (Video file). Baltimore, MD: Author.

National Council for the Social Studies. (n.d.). How Legislators Make Decisions. Retrieved from https://socialstudies.org/advocacy/how-legislators-make-decisions

The White House. (n.d.). The Legislative Branch. Retrieved from https://whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/thr-legislative-branch/

United States House of Representative. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.house.gov/

Unites States Senate. (n.d.). Senate organization chart for the 115th Congress. Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.senate.gov/reference/org_chart.htm

RE: Discussion – Week 3
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            Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), approximately 20 million individuals gained access to health insurance. Also sometimes referred to as “Obamacare,” the ACA became highly politicized. During the 2016 presidential election, the discussion of repealing the ACA was a large point of contention that millions were concerned for (Karaca-Mandic, et al., 2017).  After President Trump was elected, the bill known as the American Health Care Act (AHCA) was voted on to be passed. This bill would repeal major aspects of the Affordable Care Act. One particular point of interest was the repeal of major funding for Medicaid had this bill been passed (McCarthy, 2017).

Budget Reconciliation has been used when passing major legislation since 1980. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 established the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and sought to rationalize the process by which Congress set the federal budget (Hirsch, et al., 2017). In March of 2017, the CBO released its report of the potential implications of replacing the ACA with the AHCA. The report stated that if the bill was passed in 2017, by 2018, 14 million people would become uninsured (Hirsch, et al., 2017).

These legislators who sit as members of the house are up for election every two years (National Council for the Social Studies, n.d.).  As a legislator’s career can be short-term, they strive to be reelected. For reelection, legislators must be viewed as making positive changes for the people they serve, rather than passing their own personal agenda. While many of the legislators working on the AHCA may have had their own agenda for wanting it passed, they could not risk millions of individuals losing their insurance. This surely would not become popular and would not warrant a reelection.

NURS 6050 Discussion Politics and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act SAMPLE References 

Hirsch JA, Rosenkrantz AB, Nicola GN, et al. Contextualizing the first-round failure of the AHCA: down but not out

     Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery 2017;9:595-600.

Karaca-Mandic, P., & Jena, A. (2017, April 1). Health care among individuals at risk for losing insurance with repeal of the aca. JAMA Internal Medicine. Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2598797.

McCarthy M. US Representatives vote to repeal Affordable Care Act BMJ 2017; 357 :j2217 doi:10.1136/bmj.j2217

National Council for the Social Studies. (n.d.). How Legislators Make Decisions. Retrieved from https://socialstudies.org/advocacy/how-legislators-make-decisions