The ACA, signed into law in 2010, is a milestone policy that improved healthcare quality, accessibility, cost, and equality in the US. The main objectives of ACA were to reinvigorate the private insurance industry, particularly for individual and small covers, and provide preventative services. Moreover, ACA expanded Medicaid access to low-income populations, and control health decisions made by leveraging community and clinical-based prevention initiatives. Insurance expansion, regulation, and obligatory minimum coverage improved health accessibility to the vulnerable and budget elasticity (Chait & Glied, 2018). Moreover, ACA allocated a public health budget to engage the public on preventative measures
Increasing the percentage of health-insured people reduces healthcare costs and improves the quality of care. By giving priority to public health issues such as contraceptives, addiction, unhealthy eating habits, safe and peaceful living, and emotional and psychological stability through community initiatives and programs, ACA significantly enhanced American healthcare (Darney et al., 2020). The primary prevention provisions of ACA were waiving cost-sharing for preventative services, budgeting for community preventive programs, and establishing workplace safety and wellness programs. However, American healthcare is costly, and a large proportion remains uninsured after the implementation of ACA. Healthcare adjustments following ACA increased demand for providers to fit the increasing patient population and multiple community-based preventative programs.
More emphasis was placed on the nursing role to improve patient access to care, quality, coordinated care, transformational leadership, and continued innovation to accomplish the ACA’s patient protection objectives. ACA provisioned for the development of patient-centered care and emphasized the nurses’ performance and outcomes by informing the ethical and professional practice in nursing. Nurses are elemental in policy implementation to mediate between the policy and the public, evaluate the pre-implementation environment, and predict expected outcomes and risks (Wakefield, 2020). Coordinated care and transformational leadership motivate nurses to perform beyond minimum expectations and adopt innovative behavior.
References
Chait, N., & Glied, S. (2018). Promoting prevention under the Affordable Care Act. Annual Review of Public Health, 39(1), 507–524.
Darney, B. G., Jacob, R. L., Hoopes, M., Rodriguez, M. I., Hatch, B., Marino, M.,… & Cottrell, E. K. (2020). Evaluation of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act and contraceptive care in US community health centers. JAMA network open, 3(6), e206874-e206874. Web.
Wakefield, M. (2020). Nurses and the Affordable Care Act: A call to lead. Nursingcentered.sigmanursing.org. Web.