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Brian Albro Professor Leslie Wolcott ENC 1102 3 April 2014 Literature Review

The topic of healthcare reforms in the United States has become a very important point of discussion in recent years because of President Barrack Obama and his Affordable Care Act. This act, if it were to be allowed to work at its full potential, would provide relatively cheap health insurance to Americans who cannot afford the current rates of healthcare. There has since been arguments for and against this act, whether proud Americans actually need this socialist welfare or not. Since its writing, it has been approved by the Supreme Court as Constitutional and let loose to the American people to sign up for the new healthcare plan on the official marketplace website. Since its conception in 2008 to current times, there have been several discussions on the Act and whether or not it will be effective for the American people. A big part of this discussion was whether or not the economy could handle this sort of system without damaging too many people in the process (Andel, Beaussier, Huber, Jones, Metlay, Monheit, Roberts, Zlotnick). This act would provide health care to people who could not otherwise afford it while still paying the medical professionals in full. Since the money isnt coming from the consumer, the government is teaming up with Medicare to cover it. With the recent recession still looming over America, people are slow to the idea of having the government spending a lot of money that will be

reflected in taxes. Another big point brought up in the discussion about the Affordable Care Act is who exactly will be getting covered by this act. The act itself is made for those who under normal circumstances would not be able to afford health insurance (Dalton, Huber, Metlay, Monheit, Roberts, Zlotnick). This includes people who are below the poverty level, those who are homeless, and those recovering from alcoholism and drug addictions. Those who are not going to be covered are those who do not have legal residence in America. A less mentioned point but an important one none the less is why an Act that would help a majority of the American citizens is being fought. The main logical fear is that with cliental paying less for their insurance, medical professionals will not be working as well as they usually do (Beaussier, Olson, Tilburt). The medical professionals though, will not be paid any less; there will just be a different source of the income. Another fear creeping back from the fifties is the fear of America being overrun by communists (Rabkins, Roberts). With Americas extreme aversion to anything slightly socialist, the idea of everybody being able to afford healthcare with help from the government sounds like beginning of a communist revolution. Even after being read over by the Supreme Court and deemed constitutional, it is still thought to be evil by many. Other countries, such as Canada and Finland, who have implemented acts like this one have seen dramatic increases in the overall standard of living, and even bigger increases from those who made healthcare free instead of just cheap, mainly because people there no longer have to weigh the options of living with a sever wound or going in to debt from medical bills. An important point of who does and does not get covered I noticed is that children, impoverished people, and the elderly are all discussed by the academic journals on the topic, but not one of them discusses college students, an important topic to me as I am a college student in need of health insurance. Across America, there are millions of college students working their

way in to debt with crippling student loans to cover the growing tuition rates. These students who are working their way to independence may not be able to pay for their own insurance leaving them either dependent on their parents or uninsured. This may be especially difficult in families where the student wants to be more independent from the parents or in the cases where there is an age limit attached for dependents on the parents insurance. With no information currently gathered on college students, no action can be taken yet to help out those who need it. There needs to be a way for those regulating the act to know what these college students need and then find a way to get it to them.

Project Proposal: I feel that it is necessary for the healthcare community to gather more information on the college demographic and help those currently enrolled in college with purchasing healthcare through the new Affordable Care Act. The information gathering process could be done by sending out a survey to universities across the United States or have an online survey that can only be accessed by college students. Some of the questions could include asking about the students demographics, family and personal income, medical history, how the student is paying for college, what they know about health insurance, and of course whether they are insured or not. This information would then be sent to the state governments as they are the ones that are responsible for regulating and enforcing the healthcare reforms in their state. Once they obtain the data from the survey, it is solely up to them what is done with it. I feel that this information can be used to make an affordable healthcare plan specifically for each states college needs.

4 Works Cited: Andel C, Davidow S, Hollander M, Moreno D. The Economics of Health Care Quality and Medical Errors. Journal Of Health Care Finance [serial online]. Fall2012 2012;39(1):3950. Available from: Business Source Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 5, 2014. Beaussier A. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: The Victory of Unorthodox Lawmaking. Journal Of Health Politics, Policy & Law [serial online]. October 2012;37(5):741-778. Available from: Business Source Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed February 27, 2014. Dalton A, Vamos E, Millett C, et al. Impact of Universal Health Insurance Coverage on Hypertension Management: A Cross-National Study in the United States and England. Plos ONE [serial online]. January 2014;9(1):1-9. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 10, 2014. Huber J, Shapiro II R, Gillaspy M. TOP DOWN VERSUS BOTTOM UP: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE HEALTH LITERACY MOVEMENT. Library Quarterly [serial online]. October 2012;82(4):429-451. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 13, 2014. Jones D. The Fate of Health Care Reform What to Expect in 2012. New England Journal Of Medicine [serial online]. January 26, 2012;366(4):N.PAG. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 16, 2014. METLAY G. Federalizing Medical Campaigns against Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. Milbank Quarterly [serial online]. March 2013;91(1):123-162. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 16, 2014.

5 Monheit A. There We Go Again!. Inquiry (00469580) [serial online]. Summer2012 2012:83, 89. Available from: Business Source Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 13, 2014. Olson L. Medicaid, the States and Health Care Reform. New Political Science [serial online]. March 2012;34(1):37-54. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 13, 2014. Rabkin J. AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM AND THE HEALTHCARE REFORM DEBATE. Harvard Journal Of Law & Public Policy[serial online]. Winter2012 2012;35(1):153170. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 6, 2014. Roberts C. Dynamics of Healthcare Reform: Bitter Pills Old and New. Vanderbilt Journal Of Transnational Law [serial online]. November 2012;45(5):1341-1380. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 7, 2014. Tilburt J, James K, Jenkins S, Antiel R, Curlin F, Rasinski K. Righteous Minds in Health Care: Measurement and Explanatory Value of Social Intuitionism in Accounting for the Moral Judgments in a Sample of U.S. Physicians. Plos ONE [serial online]. September 2013;8(9):1-7. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed February 20, 2014. Zlotnick C, Zerger S, Wolfe P. Health Care for the Homeless: What We Have Learned in the Past 30 Years and What's Next. American Journal Of Public Health [serial online]. December 2, 2013;103(S2):S199-S205. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 6, 2014.