Health Care and the US Economy The fact that the government enacted the Affordable Care Act has two main implications on...

Health Care and the US Economy

The fact that the government enacted the Affordable Care Act has two main implications on the future growth of the US. One of them is the decline of resources in the short run. This is given by the fact that the government shall have to spend the money that it has at the moment in executing the dictates of the act. Depending on the degree to which the citizens shall embrace the provisions, the government stands to lose a considerable amount of money in the short run (Starr 19). This shall with no doubt have a negative implication on the short run growth of the US.

The second implication of the act implementation is a possibility of long term boost of the economy. This hails from the fact that the act shall ensure that the Americans are a healthy nation. The citizens shall grow to be healthy and energetic. In its turn, this shall ensure that the US human resource is in abundance within the local sphere and there is no need to look abroad for labor support (Durlauf and Blume 11). Indeed labor is a core factor of production for any economy. Coupled with that, the workforce of the US shall also have reduced absenteeism that is caused by ailments. It shall also be strong and ready to work at all times due to good health. This shall go a long way in seeing to it that the rate of productivity in the US goes up. In that regard, the Affordable Care Act shall have a positive implication on growth in the US in the long run.

Another way to address the health problem in the US is for the government to enact legislations that compel employers to have corporate insurance programs for all their employees. In that respect, most of the population of the US shall be covered under a comprehensive health insurance program. This shall come as a relief to the numerous members of the public who are not able to afford health insurance owing to the fact that they have meager earnings with a lot of responsibilities to take care of financially. It is an alternative that shall also allow the US to be a healthy nation.

The alternative method is positive in that it shall save the government from spending its own money towards the health of the citizens as in the case with the Affordable Care Act. In that regard, in the short run, the growth of the US shall remain relatively stable. However, in the long run, the alternative method shall have very detrimental implications. It shall discourage investment as most employers shall feel burdened having to secure corporate insurance programs for all their employees (Durlauf and Blume 17). As such, investors will have to move to other markets calling off their investments from the US. Therefore, this option is a no-win in the long run as with it, the economic growth in the US shall immensely go down.

The market is very responsive to the manner in which government asserts its authority. All industries have the government as an external factor; hence, policies instigated by the government cannot be challenged by the corporate world. Businesses have to conform to the laws of the land and this affects the manner in which business runs within the jurisdiction. There are points in time when the government policies are gotten right and they revamp the economic state of the nation. There are, however, other instances when the government gets it all wrong and the corporate world is plunged into a state of disarray. It is therefore critical that the government gets it right in all policy aspects that affect the business world.

Given that the healthcare industry is a core facet for the business world, the government policies in regard to the healthcare system of the nation is critical for the growth of the economy and nation development. It is a responsibility of the government to protect the life of every citizen, which can be executed through provision of good healthcare. This goes hand in hand with the economic state of the nation as it would be of no use to have a healthy but poor and hungry nation. In that regard, it is critical that the government focuses on the long term success of its policies rather than a short term improvements in indices. Therefore, the Affordable Care Act is indeed a perfect policy for the US as it shall ensure the Americans are a healthy and wealthy nation in the long run (Starr 5).

Works Cited

Starr, Paul. Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle Over Health Care Reform. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. Print.

Durlauf, Steven N., and Lawrence Blume. Economic Growth. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England:Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Print.