Discussion 1: Evidence Base in Design
Healthcare policies are action plans and guidelines created to govern and accomplish set standards and objectives. Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been one of healthcare policies that has sparked debated and faced opposition since President Trump ascended to power (Congress.gov, 2019).Discussion 1 &2: Evidence Base in Design and the Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making. Trump administration has opined that ACA does not address healthcare needs of the American populace and has proposed to repeal and replace it with Graham-Cassidy bill. The new bill has proposed reduction of health insurance subsidies for low and middle level earners and allow health insurance as well as get rid of mandate to buy insurance and tax penalties for being uninsured. In addition, the penalties imposed on large employers for failing to insure their employees will be repealed.
According to McCarthy (2017), repeal of ACA is anticipated to improve access to healthcare since it has several shortcomings. ACA has increased the cost of healthcare because it allowed treatment of chronic illnesses that were previously not covered under Medicare and Medicaid (McCarthy, 2017). Also, ACA has required American citizens to bear the cost of health insurance some which are not beneficial to them indicating its ineffectiveness. Furthermore, when ACA cancelled insurance policies for over twenty nine million citizens for not meeting its standards, health insurance companies suffered multiple losses. In 2013, ACA led to increase in income taxes and resulted to double taxation and devastating economic effects for most Americans.Discussion 1 &2: Evidence Base in Design and the Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making.
On the other hand, repealing of ACA will have far-reaching effects in healthcare. For the lower and middle-class Americans who rely on ACA will be disadvantaged and their access to healthcare services decreased with proposed reduction in healthcare subsidies. Discussion 1 &2: Evidence Base in Design and the Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making.Dismantling ACA is likely to cause more problems for the poor and reduce health outcomes for the larger population. Graham-Cassidy policy advocates for healthcare needs of all American citizens regardless of their socio-economic status (Blumberg et al., 2017). In conclusion, formulation of healthcare policies should consider the impact on the society and promote equality. Healthcare is a basic right and the basis for treatment and access to services should promote equality among all social groups
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