In the program Sick around America, the stories of gratitude and appreciation of the healthcare system followed by the disheartened and horrific examples of when the current system fails individuals is a true testament to the total dysfunctional of the United States’ healthcare system. Now with the implementation of the ACA, many of the discriminations that were occurring previously will be no longer. Underwriting and individuals being denied coverage due to “pre-existing conditions” is eliminated. I experienced this after I graduated from college and was dropped from my father’s employee insurance plan. I attempted to get insurance through the same company, but was denied because they saw in my medical file that I had an ongoing condition. I originally went to see my doctor for a minor issue and was given some medication to take to. The doctor did not require me to come and do a follow up and I was told to only come back if the symptoms did not go away. By me not doing a follow up appointment (as I was instructed), it left an “untreated” condition in my medical file. Similar to this and the individual in the video who could not obtain health insurance due to his heart condition, the implementation of the ACA would prevent this from occurring.

The ACA emphasis on preventative care will be beneficial for the program in the long run. Preventative medicines such as contraceptives or screenings to help detect high blood pressure or diabetes will help individuals maintain a healthier lifestyle. Overtime, insurance companies will see a decline in the more expensive procedures that are associated with advance stages of conditions that could have been treated at a lower cost if detected earlier on.

I was reading an article this week on The New York Post that discussed some of the implications that the ACA was having on many cancer patients in the country. Thousands of cancer patients are losing their coverage due to insurance companies having to cut down the number of doctors in their networks. Many of the quality cancer doctors, hospitals and centers are no longer being covered in insurance plans, leaving numerous cancer patients having to either foot the bill for themselves, or settle for lower levels of care at higher costs. So it seems, through the many stories that are being shown in the media, that the ACA is having negative consequences for many Americans.  Working with senior citizens, I am currently dealing with many of my clients seeing a dramatic change in what their Medicaid will cover and costs for co-payments and medicines increasing. Many of them argue that it is because Obamacare is “messing up everything for them”. However, many of the changes that are occurring has more to do with Georgia opting out of the Medicaid Expansion package under the ACA. The AJC highlighted the Georgia legislation efforts in passing HB 990 and HB 943 that would essentially kill any notion of Medicaid expansion for Georgia, which is throwing away thousands of dollars that current recipients of Medicaid as well as many uninsured Georgian could benefit from.

In sick around the world, Switzerland’s view of healthcare is one of the reasons why their reformed system works relatively well. Viewing healthcare as a basic human right, rather than a privilege for some, I believe is what sets Switzerland’s healthcare system apart from other countries. If the United States viewed access to affordable and quality healthcare as it does for education, than much more would be getting done in the policy stream. How can effective reform occur when the country is divided on who is worthy to have access to it? My belief is that the Affordable Health Care Act will eventually begin to work more effectively for the country, but only if all of the players get on the same board. Business, doctors and hospitals, and even insurance companies said that they wanted “reform”, but it seems that no one is will to sacrifice or at least compromise in order to make reform happen effectively.