The Affordable Care Act: Examining the Facts
240
The Affordable Care Act: Examining the Facts
240Hardcover
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Overview
The Affordable Care Act—also known as Obamacare—is one of the most controversial and politicized topics in the United States today. This timely book examines prominent claims about the legislation's drafting, debate, passage, and implementation, and discerns what is true and false about the law. Each of the text's eight chapters delves into the common beliefs, misinterpretations, and myths surrounding the act, tracing the history of the assertion and supporting or challenging its veracity through nonpartisan research and analyses.
Chapters begin with an objective look at the claim's origins—with a brief focus on the person or group that conceived it and why—then set about clarifying or debunking it using evidence from research studies and reports from authoritative sources. Entries feature primary documents, a further reading section, and tables and graphs. Topics include the impact on health care costs for families, states, and the federal government; the effect of the Affordable Care Act on employer-sponsored insurance; and the role of health status on coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781440834424 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publication date: | 01/18/2016 |
| Series: | Contemporary Debates |
| Pages: | 240 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.80(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
How to Use This Book ix
Foreword Len Nichols xi
Introduction 1
1 Passage and Implementation of the Affordable Care Act 5
Q1 Did President Obama and Democrats "Ram" the Affordable Care Act through Congress and into Law? 6
Q2 Did the Affordable Care Act Include "Backroom Deals" with Industry to Ensure Passage? 11
Q3 Did the Affordable Care Act Include Major Provisions and Elements That Had Previously Received Support from Republicans? 15
Q4 Did the Failure of the Initial Affordable Care Act Website Rollout Threaten the Future of the Affordable Care Act Itself? 19
Q5 Do Affordable Care Act Implementation Delays Prove the Law Is a Failure? 25
Q6 Did Congress Intend to Provide Subsidies Only to Individuals Purchasing Coverage through State-Based Exchanges-and Not the Federal Exchange? 30
2 Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Federal and State Budgets 33
Q7 Did the Affordable Care Act Increase the Size of the Federal Deficit? 34
Q8 Does the Price Tag of the Affordable Care Act Exceed $2 Trillion? 40
Q9 Is the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid Expansion Crafted So That Individual States Bear Very Little of the Cost? 44
Q10 Can the Reductions in Medicare Costs Contained in the Affordable Care Act Finance Coverage Expansion and Extend the Life of the Program? 49
Q11 Is the Affordable Care Act Bending the Health Care "Cost Curve"? 53
Q12 Will the Affordable Care Act's Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) Result in Rationing in Medicare? 59
3 Consumer Choices and the Affordable Care Act 65
Q13 Were People Satisfied with Their Insurance Policies Able to Keep Those Policies under the Affordable Care Act? 66
Q14 Did the Affordable Care Act Contain Provisions for "Death Panels"? 70
Q15 Will the Affordable Care Act's New Entity on Comparative Effectiveness Research Lead to Rationing of Care? 73
Q16 Under the Affordable Care Act, Do Individuals Have More Limited Choices in the Physicians They See for Medical Care? 78
Q17 Do the Essential Health Benefits Requirements Contained in the Affordable Care Act Require More Comprehensive Coverage to Be Made Available to Consumers? 83
Q18 Will the Affordable Care Act Reduce the Number of Private Medicare Advantage Plans for Seniors? 88
4 Employer-Sponsored Insurance and the Affordable Care Act 95
Q19 Will the Affordable Care Act Accelerate the Erosion of Employer-Sponsored Insurance in America? 96
Q20 Is the Affordable Care Act a "Job Killer"? 101
Q21 Has the Affordable Care Act Increased Health Care Costs for Businesses? 108
Q22 Does the Affordable Care Act Actually Help Small Businesses by Reducing Administrative Costs and Premium Volatility? 112
Q23 Are Employers Changing or Limiting the Health Coverage Options They Provide to Employees in Response to the Affordable Care Act? 116
Q24 Does the Affordable Care Act Reduce "Job Lock" and Promote Entrepreneurship? 121
5 Coverage for Individuals under the Affordable Care Act 127
Q25 Will the Affordable Care Act Reduce Insurance Premiums, as Many Advocates Predicted? 128
Q26 Will the Affordable Care Act Increase Health Care Costs for Younger, Healthier Individuals? 134
Q27 Does the Affordable Care Act Provide Health Coverage to Undocumented Immigrants? 140
Q28 Was the "Navigator" Program Established in the Affordable Care Act to Help Individuals Enroll in the Exchanges Effective? 144
6 The Health Care Industry and the Affordable Care Act 149
Q29 Does the Affordable Care Act Amount to a Government "Takeover" of the American Health Care System? 150
Q30 Will Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) Improve Quality and Reduce Health Care Costs? 155
Q31 Did the Affordable Care Act "Bail Out" Insurance Companies? 160
Q32 Will the Affordable Care Act Increase Market Competition among Insurers? 165
7 Individual and Community Health and the Affordable Care Act 171
Q33 Is the Affordable Care Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund a "Slush Fund"? 172
Q34 Will the United States Preventive Services Task Force's Role in Prevention Coverage Lead to Rationing of Health Care? 177
Q35 Will the Affordable Care Act Worsen Physician Shortages and Lead to Longer Wait Times for Medical Care? 181
Q36 Does the Affordable Care Act Force Employers to Provide Contraception Coverage and Fund Abortions? 186
Q37 Will the Affordable Care Act Improve the Overall Health of the American People? 190
Q38 Will the Affordable Care Act Strengthen Primary Care? 195
8 Taxes and the Affordable Care Act 201
Q39 Does the Affordable Care Act Increase Taxes on Individuals and Businesses? 202
Q40 Does the Affordable Care Act Require All Uninsured Individuals to Buy Insurance or Pay a Financial Penalty? 207
Q41 What Is the So-Called Cadillac Tax Contained in the Affordable Care Act? 211
Index 217
About the Author 221
What People are Saying About This
"The passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act have been partisan and controversial. The law has quickly become a political and cultural lightning rod leaving too little room for bipartisan dialogue among lawmakers or the public. The Affordable Care Act: Examining the Facts offers the first critical assessment of commonly held myths and beliefs about the law. Dr. Rawal uses her years in the Senate, work with stakeholders implementing the law, and academic experience to analyze the facts on both sides of the debate, with an eye toward informing rational and bipartisan solutions to ongoing health care challenges."
"Health care reform is aimed to address the major problems plaguing our health care system, including rising costs that threaten the fiscal future of the United States. However, the partisanship surrounding the law has made it difficult to look beyond the rhetoric and assess its impact on our health and economy. The Affordable Care Act: Examining the Facts is a timely and well-written review. It is indispensable reading for those seeking a better understanding of the law and those who are committed to fostering bipartisan dialogue to improve health care costs, quality, and access."