The Affordable Care Act and North Carolina's Uninsured Population

NUR6050

October 2, 2014

Affordable Care Act and North Carolina's Uninsured Population Introduction
The Workings of an Affordable Care Act The PPACT is more widely referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA is the product of years of political debates and movements to reform the American health care system. Originally, conceived as an alternative to a single-payer health care system, the concepts behind the ACA date back as far as the 1980’s. Although progression of the ACA was stunted for several years, it was eventually redesigned and signed into law on March 23, 2010. The purpose behind the ACA is to control
(Ricketts, 2013) The promotion for preventive health care serviced suggested the improved utilization of mid-level care coordinators, insurance navigators, and consumer assistance programs. According to Ricketts (2013), Primary care physicians, physician assistants (PAs), nurse practitioners, and other advanced practice nurses— including nurse anesthetists, nurse-midwives, and nurse educators—are the clinicians who are most likely to provide first-encounter access to the health care system and to serve as coordinators of care (p. 327). Provisions allowing for the increased funding for training programs such as primary care residencies and nursing programs were implemented; along with mandates to insurance policies that expanded preventative care services. Ethical Implications When access to quality health care is understood as a moral right, health care reformation takes on greater ethical standing. “The Affordable Care Act changes the social contract, creating a new effort fighting for universal health insurance, with an underlying notion that everyone deserves access to basic health care “(Gable, 2011). The ethical implications that are created are numerous, however generally speaking they consist of the following categories: 1)