The Healthcare Reform Act

The enactment of the Obamacare in 2010 marked a significant change in the American health care policy (Manchikanti 112). Also called the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Obamacare targeted the provision of quality and affordable health care services to the US citizens and reduced health care spending that was growing at an alarming rate. Obamacare has, however, met great objections, especially from the current government under the leadership of President Trump (Pear). Notably, ACA has resulted in a lot of health benefits to all Americans since its conception, and any efforts to eliminate the various health reforms are not likely to succeed in America.

ACA covers several health benefits including emergency services, hospitalization, maternity, newborn care, and laboratory services, among others (Manchikanti 115). Such health services are costly and ordinary citizens, especially those with low incomes, may experience lots of challenges to afford such services. Therefore, Obamacare has played an important role in ensuring that all Americans, regardless of their level of income or ethnic background have universal access to health care. According to Manchikanti (113), the US has recorded a significant increase in the national health expenditure. However, health is a critical factor in any economy, and the US government saw the need to develop and implement a comprehensive health coverage to offer affordable healthcare to all Americans.

The implementation of ACA has resulted in the cancellation of certain insurance policies that do not comply with the Obamacare coverage requirements. Prior to the implementation of Obamacare, a majority of Americans did not have health insurance. While the cost of health care has continued to rise due to the increased insurance coverage, there is the question of who would be responsible for such insurance costs without the government's intervention. On the other hand, the increase in healthcare spending implies that the US government has to dig deep into the taxpayers' money to provide affordable and quality health services through Obamacare (Malani and Schill 162-163).

Attempts to replace or eliminate the ACA with short-term health care plans (deemed to be cheaper) have been met with different downfalls. For instance, the efforts by Trump administration to promote such short-term health care plans through different health insurers across the country have not been successful (Pear). According to Pear, the state governments and state insurance lawmakers are now resisting such sales in the US. There are concerns in the manner in which the short-term plans are marketed across the country – the insurance regulators fear that the lack of proper knowledge and communication might mislead the consumers and thus not an appropriate substitution for the Obamacare which is comprehensive (Pear). Further, certain state governments are already taking severe action against different policies suggested by the Trump administration. For instance, the short-term plans have a new limit of 364 days instead of three months as initially instructed by the Trump administration (Pear).

In conclusion, the ACA has resulted in various health benefits among the US citizens and is likely to succeed in the future despite the several obstacles. The healthcare reform act is facing a significant barrier in the high cost of insurance coverage involved. Therefore, any effort to challenge the Obamacare should primarily focus on how such costs can be reduced. This way, all Americans will continue to enjoy quality and affordable health care services.

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