Affordable Healthcare Act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Affordable Healthcare Act - Essay Example Before elucidating the likely impact, it is of importance to define the words quality, access, and cost in relation to healthcare. A number of aspects are considered when defining quality of healthcare. Quality means that optimum outcomes are achieved, proper identification of illnesses is done, sufficient treatment and rehabilitation achieved, cases documented properly, and laid down standards and values are respected (Miles, 2012). Access to healthcare on the other hand denotes the ease of use and convenience to healthcare facilities or institutions in regard to their propinquity. Access to some extent also is viewed in consideration to the number of healthcare providers or physicians available in a specific area. Areas with fewer health professionals are considered to have less access to care while those with more physicians or health professionals are considered more accessible in terms of care (Miles, 2012). Subsequently, cost of care is viewed in a number of ways. In political realms, cost of healthcare is defined in terms of national as well as State expenditures in health matters. Health care providers define cost in terms of expenditure incurred through offering care services to individuals. In relation to commerce, cost of healthcare is viewed in terms of rates of insurance and premiums (Miles, 2012). Healthcare quality, access, and cost is affected by political issues in a country and the kind of action plans implemented to reform the health sector. In the U.S. in particular, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as the Obamacare has impacted the health sector immensely. In fact, there was much opposition to the implementation of this act though the Supreme court eventually ruled in the year 2012 that all features of the act were legal. There was a feeling among many individuals that the fact that the act requires all Americans to enroll for healthcare plans lest