Legislators And The Affordable Care Act Discussion Essay

Legislators And The Affordable Care Act Discussion Essay

Indeed, legislators are concerned about costs and also with benefits associated with involvement in the legislative practice. Donchin (2019) explained that legislators have a fundamental role to play in the maintenance of the legislative system and representative democracy through participation in policy development. Patel and Rushefsky (2019) acknowledged that the exercising of legislative powers and authorities by the legislators must be conducted in a manner that demonstrates impartiality, professionalism and equitable representation. Indeed, the legislative role of state legislators has been widely tested following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the subsequent calls for its amendment. Brasfield (2022) asserted that this comprehensive healthcare reform law sought to attain a set of goals namely: improving the affordability of health care services, supporting the introduction of innovative medical care delivery methods and expanding the Medicaid program for enhanced coverage of all adults with income below 138% federal poverty level. Considering the eminent status of this piece of legislation as a watershed in the contemporary public policy in the United States, a series of state legislative actions and legal cases have so far been advanced in an attempt to alter, limit, support or oppose this federal health law. Although numerous state legislatures have launched counter efforts to challenge segments or all of the Affordable Care Act through legislation, other states have focused on safeguarding this legislation through the codification of various provisions into state law (Patel & Rushefsky, 2019). Nevertheless, there is growing consensus that the ACA has been instrumental in expanding comprehensive health coverage across the various forms of insurance including government Medicaid programs, employer-provided coverage, and policies (Donchin, 2019). Although a closer scrutiny may indicate that a majority of these gains have been attained across ethnic/racial, age and socio-economic groups, the Obamacare debate is yet to reach a conclusive end.  Legislators And The Affordable Care Act Discussion Essay

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Please use one of the references below and add two additional references please. You may use more if needed. It does not have to be one page just as long as the response meets the rubric attached.

• gov Links to an external site.. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.congress.gov/
• Taylor, D., Olshansky, E., Fugate-Woods, N., Johnson-Mallard, V., Safriet, B. J., & Hagan, T. (2017). Corrigendum to position statement: Political interference in sexual and reproductive health research and health professional education. Nursing Outlook, 65(2), 346–350 Links to an external site..
• United States House of Representatives Links to an external site.. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.house.gov/
• United States Senate Links to an external site.. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.senate.gov/
• United States Senate. (n.d.). Senate organization chart for the 117th CongressLinks to an external site..  https://www.senate.gov/reference/org_chart.htm
• Document: Legislation Grid Template (Word document) Legislators And The Affordable Care Act Discussion Essay

Legislators and the Benefits

Some legislators seek to be reelected for the many benefits afforded to them when they join such an exclusive group of people. These benefits can include but are not limited to annual allowances worth millions to manage their staff and offices, free health insurance, and pensions of close to 80% of their salary (Savitsky, 2017). Therefore, being reelected is very important for them and their families. During reelection, money is donated by large corporations and individuals that become a legislator’s particular interest group. Most of the time, the interest of these special interest groups, not those of voters, is what a legislator is after. Balles, Matter, and Stutzer (2018) found during their study that state legislators are more inclined to support a policy against voter interest when there’s low coverage by the media. Legislators And The Affordable Care Act Discussion Essay

Legislators and the Affordable Care Act

Unfortunately, for most legislators, policies for or against the Affordable Care Act (ACA) during the election would not provide them with low media coverage, especially not during an election. Therefore, most representatives have analyzed the cost-benefit of repealing/replacing ACA during elections. The cost to implement a policy for or against ACA may cause them to lose their seat during reelection, so therefore, policymakers choose to avoid it. The benefit of preventing policies that arouse high emotions is greater than the cost of tackling them because it may take years to execute (Milstead & Short, 2019).

Cost-Benefit Analysis 

Nyborg & Spangen (1997) described the cost-benefit analysis as a way to “measure and compare the costs and benefits of a proposed policy alternative systemically” (p.6). The Affordable Care Act offered financial security to middle-class and low-income families by lowering insurance costs, increasing coverage availability, and providing subsidies to those who had coverage (Hanlon, Vinelli, & Welle, 2020). However, if the ACA were repealed, coverage would be less affordable for middle-class and low-income families, and about twenty million people would lose coverage; this creates higher healthcare expenses for families. As much as repealing the ACA would hurt the average-American family, it would put more money in the pockets of the 1% (Hanlon, Vinelli, & Welle, 2020). Legislators And The Affordable Care Act Discussion Essay

Legislators looking to be reelected to keep voters calm during election time. Anything that would cause negative media coverage will likely be avoided. The ACA is one policy that could cause a policymaker their seat because they not only have to appeal to their voters who benefit from ACA, but they also have to get donations from the 1% who may benefit from a repeal of the ACA.

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