Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

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Week 5

Access to Care and Resource Allocation

In Week 1, you reviewed concepts such as distributive justice as an ethical principle. Some

ethicists would argue that healthcare is a right, and it should not be administered from

merely a business perspective. Regardless of your perspective, as a healthcare executive,

you must give priority consideration to the issues of access to care and resource

allocation. You, as an executive with major decision-making responsibilities, have the

responsibility of stewardship of the resources (financial, human, facilities, etc.) that have

been given to the organization through various stakeholders. You will need to balance the

sustainability and viability of your organization against its core mission to provide

healthcare services to your client populations—some of whom may have difficulties paying

for such services. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2018),

healthcare expenditures are nearly 18% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), which

is higher than any other nation in the world. In spite of the high percentage of healthcare

spending, many lack access to care due to several factors, including inadequate or no

insurance coverage, inability to pay, lack of transportation, or lack of language translation

services persist. Although the economy has grown since the recession in 2008, it is still

stabilizing. To this end, it is important that limited resources be allocated in as responsible

a manner as possible.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has three core objectives: “(1)

the dual goal of improving the quality of health care and lowering costs, (2) increasing

access to health care, and (3) providing greater consumer protection in health care”

(Fitzgerald, Bias & Gurley, 2017, p 28). The PPACA is responsible for helping decrease the

number of uninsured nonelderly Americans from 44 million in 2013, to less than 28

million at the end of 2016.

Be sure to review this week's resources carefully. You are expected to apply the

information from these resources when you prepare your assignments.

References:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2018). National health expenditure data:

Historical.

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Books and Resources for this Week

Davis, D. C., Davis, S. W., & Schmelzle, G.

(2013). The impact of various accounting

approaches on U.S. healthcare

reimbursement systems: Ethical... Link

Harrison, K. L., & Taylor, H. A. (2016).

Healthcare resource allocation decisions

affecting uninsured services. Journal of

Health Organization and... Link

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2018).

Compare proposals to replace the Affordable

Care Act. Link

Scheunemann, L. P., & White, D. B. (2011).

The ethics and reality of rationing in

medicine. Chest, 140(6), 1625–1632. Link

Week 5 - Assignment: Recommend Health Reform Changes Assignment

Due July 21 at 11:59 PM

Fitzgerald, M. P., Bias, T. K., & Gurley, C. T. (2017). The Affordable Care Act

and consumer well-being: Knowns and unknowns. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 51(1), 27–

53.

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was passed into law

in 2010 as part of an ongoing effort to reform healthcare at the national level. However,

there have been policymakers who wanted to repeal the law, citing increases in taxes,

penalties for those who do not have insurance coverage, and considerable decreases in

employer-group enrollments. Other policymakers have argued that a full repeal is

unnecessary and that only parts of the law need revising. As a healthcare executive, you

have a vested interest in the future of healthcare reform.

You will select a subject that has been proposed for replacement in the PPACA. You will

then draft a letter to a senator or congressperson from your district or to someone serving

on the Subcommittee for Healthcare, recommending changes to the particular portion of the

PPACA that you selected.

Length: between 3-5 pages (not including reference page). It should be in letter format, with

the appropriate honorific for the U.S. senator or representative.

References: Include a minimum of 3 scholarly resources to support the content of the letter.

Upload your document and click the Submit to Dropbox button.