Sociology
Jawad1598 
Paper_Instructions_OptionB.docSOCIAL PROBLEMS ESSAY – OPTION B
Health Care and the Affordable Care Act
This paper focuses on the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (or ACA), which was the result of heated debate in our society. (NOTE: The final version of the ACA included some amendments from the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act passed a few days after ACA in 2010. Also, please note that the ACA is often referred to as “Obamacare.” However, this is politically charged term so avoid using it in your essay.)
Tasks To Do Before Selecting Your Topic and Writing: Become familiar with the ACA
In order to become knowledgeable about the ACA, please do the following and then proceed on to the actual assignment below.
First, please watch the 17-minute video “Obamacare – The Affordable Care Act Explained” by Keith Hughes to get an overview of the ACA. This is a broad, but very good, summary of the law. Also, watch the 9-minute video “Health Reform Hits Main Street,” which provides some additional overview information. Feel free to pause the videos frequently so you can jot down a few notes for yourself. These videos are a useful summary of some subjective concerns about health care in the U.S. that our society is trying to address with the ACA.
Video by Keith Hughes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqabs9xysYA
This “Health Reform Hits Main Street” video is useful to help understand what the health care insurance situation was like BEFORE the ACA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Ilc5xK2_E&feature=player_embedded
Second, spend 5-10 minutes examining the “Implementation Timeline” of the ACA provide by KFF. This is VERY important. In particular, I encourage you to scan through the 2010 items and the 2014 items. The law first took affect in 2010 and was (for the most part) fully implemented in 2014: http://healthreform.kff.org/timeline.aspx .
Please note how you can “Customize By Topic” on the left. This is VERY useful in narrowing the focus of your paper. For example, if you are mostly interested in the ACA’s affect on “Employers” you can “deselect all” then re-click just this area to see what is in the ACA under this narrower topic. When I did this, and then clicked on the year 2010 I got:
· the “Small Business & Tax Credit,”
· the “Reinsurance Program for Retiree Coverage” and
· the “Therapeutic Discovery Project Credit”
When I click on the year 2014, I got:
· In the year 2014, I got “Employer Requirements”.
Any one of the above sub-topics would be a useful topic for your paper. This is VERY helpful for identifying your focus in question #1 below! Note: you will need 2 narrowly focused topics like the above from the ACA for this essay so please spend some time with this timeline and the above process!!
Third, spend 5-10 minutes scanning through the “Summary of New Health Reform Law” provided by the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). This may add a bit more detail to the two topics you select via the timeline above.
Kaiser Summary of ACA:
http://kff.org/health-reform/fact-sheet/summary-of-the-affordable-care-act/
Fourth, to get a sense of some additional perspectives and data, scan some of the following. You are, of course, always welcome to do independent research but that is not required for this essay.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Report (March, 2019) on ACA Marketplaces enrollment:
https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/health-insurance-exchanges-2019-open-enrollment-report
Kaiser Family Foundation (2019) ACA Data Bank
http://kff.org/state-category/health-reform/
United States Census (September, 2018) “Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S.”
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-264.html
Kaiser Family Foundation (December, 2018) “Key Facts About the Uninsured Population”
http://kff.org/uninsured/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/
Healthcare.gov (2019) 10 Essential Healthcare Benefits
https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/essential-health-benefits/
Non-Partisan Congressional Budget Office Report on Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance Coverage for People Under Age 65: 2018-2028
https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/53826-healthinsurancecoverage.pdf (2018)
NRP “Why Do So Many People Hate the Affordable Care Act So Much?” (December, 2017)
Non-Partisan Congressional Budget Office Report on the Effect of Repealing the Individual Health Insurance Mandate (November, 2017)
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53300
(NOTE: The new tax law signed by President Trump did, indeed, repeal the individual health insurance mandate that was a part of the original ACA. See this article for more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/upshot/individual-health-insurance-mandate-end-impact.html )
Non-Partisan CBO report (June, 2015) “Budgetary and Economic Effects of Repealing the Affordable Care Act”
Non-Partisan CBO report (April, 2014) on costs and deficit reduction (or savings) derived from implementing the ACA:
http://www.cbo.gov/publication/45231
For a brief review of the 2012 Supreme Court decision upholding the ACA’s constitutionality, see the following:
If interested, here is the link to the full Supreme Court decision:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf
Feel free to examine other more recent articles in reputable periodicals if desired. These are just some examples.
NOTE: As you write the paper, you may use additional resources. However, this is not required. Rather than spending your time searching for information, I want you to spend your time thinking about and understanding the ACA.
Paper Instructions
The social problem of “health care” in the U.S. is complex. There is a great deal of objective data available about costs and numbers of people securing coverage (or not), as well as a wide variety of subjective concerns being expressed by members of society. People seem to want coverage, but our past arrangements left many without protection or access. Drawing from the material above, please write a 5-6-page essay addressing the following*:
1) Please identify 2 specific areas of the ACA that interest you and that you will write about in the essay. To select your topic, please use the Kaiser Foundation timeline identified and explained earlier and below ( http://healthreform.kff.org/timeline.aspx ). Be sure to drill down on a particular topic and year to narrow your focus.
SELECTING YOUR TOPICS, EXAMPLE A. If you use the following click-path, you will end up with the topic “Annual Fees on the Pharmaceutical Industry”:
· Under “customize by topic” click “deselect all”
· Click the box for “prescription drugs”
· Click on the year “2012”
· You should see the ACA provisions being implemented in 2012 for “Annual Fees for the Pharmaceutical Industry”
SELECTING YOUR TOPICS, EXAMPLE B. If you use the following click-path, you will end up with the topic “Adult Dependent Coverage to Age 26”:
· Under “customize by topic” click “deselect all”
· Click the box for “insurance”
· Click on the year “2010”
· Click on “Adult Dependent Coverage to Age 26” to see the ACA provisions for this topic
Using the above example “click-paths,” please select 2 topics of your own choosing for the paper. You will focus on these two areas when answering the remaining questions.
In your opening paragraphs, in addition to an overview of the essay, be sure to briefly explain what the 2 topics are about. Be sure to select something narrow and “doable”; remember that you have just 5-6 pages for this essay.
2) In at least two separate paragraphs, and drawing upon the web sites made available to you in this assignment, or other credible resources, please:
a. Identify and explain a specific subjective concern related to each of the 2 areas you selected in #1. In other words, what was it that people were concerned about and that these 2 areas of the ACA attempt to address? Why were these two areas included in the ACA? What problems were they trying to solve?
b. Next, identify one subjective concern for each of your 2 areas that is expressed by those who oppose the assistance being provided by the ACA. What are they worried about? Feel free to use a quote (if needed) followed by an in-text citation like. A bibliography is NOT required unless you use outside sources.
3) In a separate paragraph, please briefly identify what cultural value (or values) is/are reflected in the debate in #2. Remember, cultural values are standards of what is “good,” “fair” or “just” in a society. There are particular American values that underpin the ACA debate and I expect you to connect the debate to at least one. This discussion of values may relate directly to your two narrow topics selected above, or if you prefer, you can discuss what American values that underpin the overall debate about the ACA in our society.
4) One key outcome from the ACA is the development of 10 essential health benefits that insurers must now provide. In a brief paragraph, please identify these ten essential health benefits.
5) In three separate paragraphs, please identify the following specific pieces of objective data (i.e., measurable statistics from a reliable source) related to the ACA:
a. Percentage of Americans that had health insurance coverage prior to the ACA and percentage of Americans that had health care coverage as of 2017.
b. What percentage of Americans, by race and ethnicity, had health insurance coverage prior to the ACA and what percentage of Americans, by race and ethnicity, have health care coverage as of 2017. Which racial-ethnic group had the highest decrease in not having health care coverage?
c. 2 other pieces of objective data about the ACA that you think are compelling, or that relate directly to the topics you selected in #1 above.
d. Often, people express subjective concern about a social problem, but the available objective data doesn’t support it. Again, a simple in-text citation like (Kaiser Data Bank, 2018) or (CBO, 2015) should be used following the data. Also, if possible, please state how these data relate to the debate surrounding at least one of your topics. If these data don’t relate directly to your selected topics (and they don’t have to), please briefly state how the information you selected is useful in understanding the social problem of providing health insurance/care via the ACA overall.
6) In a separate paragraph (or two, if you feel that it is useful in terms of organization and clear writing), please briefly contrast how a functionalist and a conflict theorist would approach the social problem of health care and the proposed solution – that is, the ACA - in the U.S.? Be sure to apply each approach to the problem, rather than simply re-state the basic perspective for each without connecting it to health care and the ACA debate. How might a conflict theorist think through the ACA? How might that differ from a functionalist?
7) In a separate paragraph, please tell me your general thoughts about the ACA. Are you in favor, opposed, somewhere in the middle? Why? Also, please tell me how your social location likely affects your perspective. Remember, social location includes your gender, racial-ethnic background, social class, religious affiliation, and other aspects of identity and culture. Be specific with your social location and how it may influence your perspective.
* Please CAREFULLY read the Grading Rubric and the Writing Requirements document for more details. If you have questions, please email me. Spelling, grammar, and cogent writing matter so please think carefully about what you are trying to say in each paragraph and proofread carefully.
NOTE: If you know that you struggle with clear, effective writing, please contact the Learning Center ( http://www.oakton.edu/studentservices/learning_center/index.php ) or me for assistance. If you want assistance from me, please schedule an appointment (either phone or in-person) with me at least 5 days before the paper is due. Please plan ahead!
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