Wednesday, March 23, 2011

PPACA: Right not Priviledge Vs. Worst Law Ever made?

Keywords or Terms: Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Youths & Parents' Health Insurance Policy; Elderly & Medicare Advantage Donut Hole; Health Insurance Premiums; Assumptions; Foundations; Republicans; Democrats.

When asked the above question in a quiet country club discussion session, I laughed and looked out through the window, assessed the gathering of the somewhat upper crust of the affluent in the country club and replied: You've got to be a wizard to know what is to come!

There is a certain hunger in America to find out what the Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) actually means. It has been a year since President Obama signed the act into the law of the land, and the worlds of many middle income earners and the poor, who have suffered disproportionately under the former healthcare system, has shifted on their axis. The American healthcare system landscape would never be the same again; and, the health care opportunities available to millions of Americans, can only but improve from now on.

The mystery surrounding how Republicans have attempted to pull the law down is probably encapsulated in the demonization of the PPACA as the worst in American legislation. The unique contribution of the PPACA, if you ask those whose lives are being impacted by the sweeping changes in health care delivery since last year, with more to come, is the fact that since the phasing in of some provisions of the PPACA, the practice of medicine and the health care services offered to Americans, have improved and will only get better come 2014. More importantly, the era of free loaders at hospital emergency rooms are more likely to be a thing of the past!

What makes a great legislation is not the immediate reaction from the public or lawmakers who may be apprehensive of the worth of the law. The PPACA was long overdue with millions of Americans falling through the cracks with respect to health care services and ability to obtain reasonably cost health care insurance; especially with those in the high end health risk pull. The historical rational of letting the chips fall where they may was no longer holding water as many hospitals and clinics realized that providing health care services to millions without health insurance policy, and spreading the cost of such services to others carrying a policy, was not going to be tenable for too long. The kinds of criticism levied against the PPACA may seem genuine or firm to the unsavory eyes and minds, but for those who have known how difficult it is for leaders to bring about change in a system, or legislators, who understand what it takes to follow through on a promise to make a situation better in the country, nothing is more important than the Patient's Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA); and, current criticisms against the Act is just another incubation of malice, appropriately grounded in ignorance.

There are probably five factors to consider in assessing any issue, or legislation, if you like: What, where, who, when and how? You can't write a formula to effectively determine the success of a legislation, because it is partially a science and partially an art. However, looking at the immediate results of the legislation may effectively give you a bird's-eye view of what is to come from the passing of the legislation. One thing is certain as of now: since March 23, 2010 when President Obama signed the act into a law, Americans who could have been wasting away with the repeated number of unwarranted tests initiated by their provider can tell you things are now changing; and for anything in life, change is good. For once, Americans are paying for health care outcomes rather than the quantity and barrage of tests initiated or conducted on them by physicians playing the roulette game of volume for money!

Valuable feedbacks are necessary on the impacts of a new law. However, th PPACA is relatively new and some of its provisions are still scheduled for the future. Considering the popularity of the law with Democrats and many who are already benefiting from some parts of the law that have come into effect, it is safe to say that the future is bright for the American health care system. Nancy Pelosi, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, puts the potential impact of the act in perspective with the pronouncement that with the onset of the law, Americans can literarily say that their access to health care services is close to being a right rather than a privilege. Her comments comes out of four decades of work and experience by largely members of the Democratic Party who have served in position of power, either in the Whitehouse or the congress of the United States, and also worked tirelessly to see that the health care service received by Americans has a human face.

With efforts of past and present greats as Brother and Lion of the Senate, his most honorable Ted Kennedy, may his gentle soul rest tenderly, William (Bill) Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Speaker of Senate Harry Reid, President Obama and other Democratic lawmakers too many to mention, Businesses can now take tax credit of up to 50% of their investments in the healthcare of their employees and they can benefit from pulled risks in health insurance lowered premiums payments. Youths under the age of 26 years can remain on their parent's health insurance policy. The elderly on Medicare advantage can see their former donut hole as gradually shrinking until it will come to nothing; as lower rates are phased in Medicare advantage and relaxed lives of the masses are being torched for the better, as patients are now getting the type of service they deserve and would in the coming future, benefit from an health care system that truly cares about improving the quality of care delivered in our hospitals and clinics.

Republicans may derogatively refer to the PPACA as 'OBMAMACARE', but Americans who have seen or who will be seeing the choices available to them in terms of care and insurance coverage, limitless, and who will be able to take advantage of early health screening so that someone who has the potential or the biology to suffer from colon cancer, can easily be save that nightmare, because the health care system law require and encourage early screening of patients for potential problems; and, prescribe solutions to help Americans live a better and longer life: this is the preventive care provision of the PPACA.

The Kaiser Foundation that have attempted to measure people's opinion regarding the law came back with a spate of mixed reactions. No one knows how the foundation has defined the law and sought reaction, but what is known is that people are still somewhat confused about the law's offerings. Many of us who are in support of the law are somewhat apprehensive of the geocentric result from Kaiser Foundation and are very convenient with the reality that by 2014, when most of the important provisions of the law will be coming into effect, we will all see how a fantastic law this one is and how much health quality will have improved. The somewhat religiosity in support of the law comes out of the conviction that the old status quo can no longer meet the needs of Americans for better health care system.


No comments: