Many changes have happened to the global health landscape since the passing of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. One of the major factors in this change was the COVID-19 pandemic which has only cooled, not stopped. People are still dying and suffering long-term effects, which are also still being discovered. Many findings have been discovered because of COVID-19 that affects not just that disease, but the health concerns of everyone outside of it. Some of the changes need to be societal, but others are strictly on the medical front, both medicine and administration.
Diabetes Concerns
New cases of diabetes have dropped over the years, but the deaths from the condition have increased, which means only the worst cases happen to people. ACA has made sure that people are being told what they need to do to reduce their risks, the government is working with the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) to have insurance companies focus on measures dealing with it, and there have been advancements partially spurred by government funding to find solutions. Combating diabetes prevents COVID-19 and diabetes deaths, which is helped by lower-income people having medical access.
Job Loss
Millions lost their jobs because of the government demand that businesses shut down, which meant they lost insurance through work. The ACA buffered this, so lower-income folks were not dealing with loss for long. People who were suffering from long-term health concerns did not have to worry about missing care for long, if at all. The people who developed new conditions, such as COVID-19, did not have to worry about medical treatments. Insurance helps alleviate stress, which has also been shown to cause health issues. This all means that the ACA provisions shined.
Pandemic Help
During the pandemic, the US Congress passed the American Rescue Plan of 2021, which provided additional subsidies for the ACA, more funding to help medical care across the nation, and expanded Medicare and Medicaid. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 expanded on this by extending the coverage until 2025, but there could be sticker shock when they expire because the costs will increase. The biggest change will be Medicaid access, which will go back to the standards before the pandemic, which means many of these people will have to go back to the exchanges if they have not found suitable workplace insurance.
Payment Problems
While there were already some payment issues found before the pandemic, the pandemic brought these problems into the spotlight. The issue comes from the different types of insurance, government and private, and how they make the payments. Another area was found that quantity of quality was the way that doctors would get paid, which came from the shift from caring for individuals to caring for populations. What this means for the government-controlled situation, they are looking into committees to investigate the matter and propose solutions that require legislative action.
Electronic Delivery
One of the major changes to healthcare that has come about is what is known as telehealth, which is people using programs like Zoom to talk with their doctors. Testing is being done via drop-offs and mail in many of these instances, with some of these tests being able to come from over-the-counter solutions. Some disconnect has been felt by some patients, but it has allowed for people to be seen faster than they would by going into the office. Remote areas were using some form of telecommunication for less critical cases, but this was the first time for such a large usage.
Privacy Concerns
There are many reasons that people have concerns with privacy as everything is going online or on servers, and the rise of hacking attacks over the past decade. People can have their telehealth sessions watched or their information downloaded, both by criminals who have ill intentions for it. With the government having more and more control over this information, especially with many more ending up in government plans during the pandemic, some find laws and regulations not up to handling the increased breaches. Modern problems that may lead to more legislation.
New Monitoring
One advantage of modern technology is that there are new ways to monitor the health of patients without them coming in for lengthy sessions. There are some concerns about this being hacked, but very little, if any, of the data is useful to any but medical professionals. People have a chance to have their specific vitals monitored as they are leading real lives, which gives medical professionals a clearer picture to prepare for intelligent solutions. The pandemic made this more necessary, but it can be seen as more of a trial run for a more permanent solution.
Remote Work
Many industries during the pandemic dealt with either closing their doors or having office workers log in from home. The insurance industry is a large part of this, and with administrative functionality hospitals were able to do this as well. It brought about cybersecurity concerns but allowed fewer instances of people becoming sick to keep the work flowing. A recent cyberattack on a major software company for insurance companies shows that there does need to be a good look at security. It does allow experienced people to help companies in different areas without needing to make expensive moves.
Research Access
One of the areas that was improved greatly during the pandemic, especially with the rise of government insurance customers, is that there was a path seen for greater research access to data. Some of this comes from the new technologies that have been developed, but quite a few of the improvements have come from necessity. Experts want to prevent people from dying or being sick, which means that they need information. The government, hospitals, and insurance companies gather all of this, so the experts can spot problems before they balloon out of control. This comes from more insured being seen.
People need healthcare options, as they will not know when they will get sick. The insurance provided through the ACA gave them this chance, but it did not provide for all issues that would come from the pandemic. That is why this was a time of studying and retrospect for those who can help get changes started. There needs to be intelligent solutions presented for what works and what fails, so Congress will need to be done.
Many changes have happened to the global health landscape since the passing of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. One of the major factors in this change was the COVID-19 pandemic which has only cooled, not stopped. People are still dying and suffering long-term effects, which are also still being discovered. Many findings have been discovered because of COVID-19 that affects not just that disease, but the health concerns of everyone outside of it. Some of the changes need to be societal, but others are strictly on the medical front, both medicine and administration.
Diabetes Concerns
New cases of diabetes have dropped over the years, but the deaths from the condition have increased, which means only the worst cases happen to people. ACA has made sure that people are being told what they need to do to reduce their risks, the government is working with the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) to have insurance companies focus on measures dealing with it, and there have been advancements partially spurred by government funding to find solutions. Combating diabetes prevents COVID-19 and diabetes deaths, which is helped by lower-income people having medical access.
Job Loss
Millions lost their jobs because of the government demand that businesses shut down, which meant they lost insurance through work. The ACA buffered this, so lower-income folks were not dealing with loss for long. People who were suffering from long-term health concerns did not have to worry about missing care for long, if at all. The people who developed new conditions, such as COVID-19, did not have to worry about medical treatments. Insurance helps alleviate stress, which has also been shown to cause health issues. This all means that the ACA provisions shined.
Pandemic Help
During the pandemic, the US Congress passed the American Rescue Plan of 2021, which provided additional subsidies for the ACA, more funding to help medical care across the nation, and expanded Medicare and Medicaid. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 expanded on this by extending the coverage until 2025, but there could be sticker shock when they expire because the costs will increase. The biggest change will be Medicaid access, which will go back to the standards before the pandemic, which means many of these people will have to go back to the exchanges if they have not found suitable workplace insurance.
Payment Problems
While there were already some payment issues found before the pandemic, the pandemic brought these problems into the spotlight. The issue comes from the different types of insurance, government and private, and how they make the payments. Another area was found that quantity of quality was the way that doctors would get paid, which came from the shift from caring for individuals to caring for populations. What this means for the government-controlled situation, they are looking into committees to investigate the matter and propose solutions that require legislative action.
Electronic Delivery
One of the major changes to healthcare that has come about is what is known as telehealth, which is people using programs like Zoom to talk with their doctors. Testing is being done via drop-offs and mail in many of these instances, with some of these tests being able to come from over-the-counter solutions. Some disconnect has been felt by some patients, but it has allowed for people to be seen faster than they would by going into the office. Remote areas were using some form of telecommunication for less critical cases, but this was the first time for such a large usage.
Privacy Concerns
There are many reasons that people have concerns with privacy as everything is going online or on servers, and the rise of hacking attacks over the past decade. People can have their telehealth sessions watched or their information downloaded, both by criminals who have ill intentions for it. With the government having more and more control over this information, especially with many more ending up in government plans during the pandemic, some find laws and regulations not up to handling the increased breaches. Modern problems that may lead to more legislation.
New Monitoring
One advantage of modern technology is that there are new ways to monitor the health of patients without them coming in for lengthy sessions. There are some concerns about this being hacked, but very little, if any, of the data is useful to any but medical professionals. People have a chance to have their specific vitals monitored as they are leading real lives, which gives medical professionals a clearer picture to prepare for intelligent solutions. The pandemic made this more necessary, but it can be seen as more of a trial run for a more permanent solution.
Remote Work
Many industries during the pandemic dealt with either closing their doors or having office workers log in from home. The insurance industry is a large part of this, and with administrative functionality hospitals were able to do this as well. It brought about cybersecurity concerns but allowed fewer instances of people becoming sick to keep the work flowing. A recent cyberattack on a major software company for insurance companies shows that there does need to be a good look at security. It does allow experienced people to help companies in different areas without needing to make expensive moves.
Research Access
One of the areas that was improved greatly during the pandemic, especially with the rise of government insurance customers, is that there was a path seen for greater research access to data. Some of this comes from the new technologies that have been developed, but quite a few of the improvements have come from necessity. Experts want to prevent people from dying or being sick, which means that they need information. The government, hospitals, and insurance companies gather all of this, so the experts can spot problems before they balloon out of control. This comes from more insured being seen.
People need healthcare options, as they will not know when they will get sick. The insurance provided through the ACA gave them this chance, but it did not provide for all issues that would come from the pandemic. That is why this was a time of studying and retrospect for those who can help get changes started. There needs to be intelligent solutions presented for what works and what fails, so Congress will need to be done.
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