Identify the problem, noting its relationship to equity, access, affordability, and/or social justice in health care.

Identify the problem, noting its relationship to equity, access, affordability, and/or social justice in health care.

Before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the United States faced a lot of problems, especially when it comes to equity, access, social justice, and affordability. There was a high rate of health disparities, mostly on racial and socioeconomic factors. Furthermore, the lack of fair affordability of healthcare influenced the lack of enough and quality care in areas or communities that are poor. Once affordability was affected, all the other aspects like accessibility, social justice, and equity were also affected and became poor as the years went by (Shi & Stevens, 2005). The outcome and satisfaction of the patients were poor, and healthcare spending and cost were only continuing to raise The Insurance companies made it hard for the poor patients and those who have poor health conditions to afford cover (Hoffman & Paradise, 2008). A year before the Act was implemented, the statistics analyzed showed that around one-fifth of the patients. The number of uninsured Americans was predicted to continue increasing if no cause of action would be taken. The Affordable Care Act was implemented to fix the issue of affordability by pushing insurance companies to cover more people and take up more responsibilities and help in improving the quality of healthcare.

Describe the population most affected by this problem, noting whether this is a vulnerable population.

The most vulnerable population was generally the poor people in the communities irrespective of race or color. The analysis done by McIntyre & Song (2019) shows that the most prone population and the ones that benefited most from the Act were non-Hispanic white people mostly who did not go to colleges, non-Hispanic black population, Hispanic people and other non-Hispanic people. These different people have one thing in common; their socioeconomic status. The vulnerability of the given population can be determined by social, economic, and environmental factors. For one, although it is speculated that people tend to adapt to their living environment, these poor people are exposed to toxic substances and bacteria that are dangerous to their health. The insurance and health facilities could not take someone who would be a burden to them, and hence the uninsured population could not afford healthcare (Hoffman & Paradise, 2008).

Describe health care and health disparities that may be related to this problem and population.

Health disparities related to this population are contributed by political and economic discrimination and poverty. According to Shi & Stevens (2005), people contained in the population are most vulnerable people and individuals from marginalized groups who have been deprived of the ability or information to acquire or receive quality health services. Cozzarelli, Wilkinson, & Tagler (2001) observed that poor people are forced to make hard choices due to poverty despite knowing the choices will likely put them in danger. For instance, a parent would be forced to choose between feeding her children and taking them for vaccinations. The consultation fee, transport to the clinic, and the price of the drugs prescribed can be a major burden for individuals and families contained in the population.

In some cases, the burden of illness requires young ones to drop school and search for means to earn money to help out. According to Shi & Stevens (2005), poverty and healthcare are negatively correlated such that the more poverty increases, the poorer healthcare becomes.  The issue is still common in the current society, where more than 20 million Americans are still not yet insured.

Summarize legislation and/or political activities that relate to the identified problem.

The 11th US Congress enacted the Affordable Care Act, and in March 2010, the then-president signed the Act into Law (Kocher, Emanuel, & DeParle, 2010). The main provisions of the Act came into effect in 2014, and by 2016, a significant percentage of the uninsured people finally got insured (McIntyre & Song, 2019). The Act was also developed to improve the quality and reduce the cost of healthcare. The provisions in the Act are meant to enhance accessibility to insurance and expand consumer protections, increase wellness and stress on prevention, enhance the performance of the health systems and improve the quality of healthcare services, reduce the healthcare costs and increase the workforce in the industry (McIntyre & Song, 2019). The major part of the Act was implemented first by many states as they tied to improve health performance and increase accessibility to care.

Analyze the effect that this legislation has had on the consumer challenge.

According to a recent report, ACA has helped a lot of people to get health cover. Furthermore, the legislation has made it easier to invest in programs that are believed to have health benefits and health reduce the cost of care and has proved to be fruitful with more than $28 billion healthcare costs and 125000 lives saved through the Partnership for Patients (McIntyre & Song, 2019). There is no doubt that ACA has helped reduce health care costs; however, the issues of high health care costs are still a big problem in the industry. The ACA has continued to emphasize prevention efforts, especially of the most costly and common but preventable chronic diseases. The ACA has established the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which supports and caters to efforts to promote public health across the country (McIntyre & Song, 2019). The Act also requires insurance companies to cover some health aspects that can reduce exposure of individuals to risky and costly circumstances. The implementation of the Act has brought a lot of benefits to people and in the industry. It is expected to continue impacting progress in the industry by enhancing access and affordability and hence decrease the number of uninsured Americans. The Act is enhancing the funding for prevention and community-based programs and supports research. Therefore, the Act us able to reduce health disparities by improving health outcomes, enhancing preventive care, reducing gross spending on health, and improving accessibility (McIntyre & Song, 2019). The Law also prevents discrimination, especially of a vulnerable population.