American Health (Essay Sample)

A Review of Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act
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College
Abstract
A healthy nation is a wealth nation. This has been the position of many health economists. A health workforce is more production than an ailing population. Above all, there is maximum utilization of working hours that translates to general increase in a country’s productivity. However, diseases and illnesses are investable. Therefore, the sustenance of a health nation demands a comprehensive health care system. CITATION Dav11 \l 1033 (Squires, Issues in International Health Policy, 2011)
Introduction
Health care is the products offered by the health professional for the prevention and treatment of diseases and illnesses. Since 1960s the various American administrations has labored to bring reforms to the health sector in an effort to make health care affordable and accessible to many. Accessibility and mode of financing health care varies with countries. In the US financing of health care has been mainly through government provided insurance schemes or through privately sourced private insurance packages. CITATION Kau11 \l 1033 (Associates, 2011) However, these strategies have not managed to ensure access to all for health care.
The private insurance cover, which is the dominant method of financing health care, has been accused regularly as being restrictive and expensive. CITATION Dav12 \l 1033 (Squires, Issues in International Health Policy, 2012) Many reforms have taken place in the health sector dating back in 1965 with the development of a social insurance program named Medicare by the administration of President Lyndon Johnson. This program was to ensure access to health care for retired government employees aged above sixty-five years. CITATION Mel04 \l 1033 (Zuckerman, 2004) Many more reforms have taken place since then but one recent development in the health sector stands out. With the health insurance premiums rising every day, the Obama administration embarked on reforms to reduce the health burden and make health accessible to all. This saw the enactment and implementation of the American Health Care Reform Act of 2013.
The development and implementation of the American Health Care Reform Act is a major milestone in the history of the American health care system. However the act which has come to law is a package of ambitious provision aimed at stream lining the American health sector in terms of accessibility and affordability. The act mainly addresses the issue of health care financing where by the government has assumed the greatest burden in heath financing and imposing much restrictions to private insurance funding. CITATION Dav12 \l 1033 (Squires, Issues in International Health Policy, 2012) By so doing, the Obama administration has overlooked key elements of a free market and overcommitted his government, which will result to inefficiencies. The restrictive clause to private insurance will hinder the expansion of insurance in providing financing alternatives.
The Obama administration is ignorant on the benefits that come with health competition in a free market. Competition brings about reduced prices, increased quality and efficiency in production. CITATION Mel04 \l 1033 (Zuckerman, 2004) The whole program is total irony. The program overburdens the government by demanding huge budgetary allocation. This goes down to the pockets of the citizens in form of taxes thereby violating the very purpose it meant to serve. The program falls short of inclusiveness. The program is almost entirely targets the employed by developing efficient and affordable social schemes to finance their health care. However this locks outs the unemployed population from enjoying the benefits.
Conclusion
Ambitious the program may look it re...