Answer

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Article Critique

Citation:

Campbell, A. L., & Shore-Sheppard, L. (2020). The Social, Political, and Economic Effects of the Affordable Care Act: Introduction to the Issue. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 6(2), 1-40.

This paper critiques the article by Campbell and Shore-Sheppard (2020) titled The Social, Political, and Economic Effects of the Affordable Care Act. Andreas Louise Campbell and Lara Shore-Sheppard’s credibility is based on their profession and current roles. Campbell is both an author and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in political science. Shore-Sheppard is Kimberly ’96 and Robert ’62 economics professor at Williams College. The professions of these two authors demonstrate their contribution to the article and suitability in developing the paper.

Campbell and Shore-Sheppard acknowledge that there is a broad evaluation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare, although there are areas requiring further evaluation. The overarching purpose of this article is evaluating the social, economic, and political effects of ACA through a literature review. The article further examines the Obamacare design implications for the private insurance markets and the main public insurance projects. The ACA’s impacts on the non-insurance components, including the healthcare providers and the workforce, are also provided. The paper concludes by identifying the critical areas that more research is required. The article’s overall impression is that Obamacare has significant benefits and gaps in the social, economic, and political dimensions. However, there is a need for further research in various areas, including public health providers’ role. Obamacare has significant merits and demerits in the social, economic, and political dimensions, and further research is required in enhancing the implementation of ACA.

Analysis

Campbell and Shore-Sheppard (2020), through a literature review, reveal questions for further research. Primarily, ACA has attracted attention from scholars and legislatures. However, extensive research is leveraged by the gaps in further evaluation of the social, political, and economic impacts. Answering these questions will require collecting qualitative and quantitative data through various approaches, including interviews and observations. This information is essential in evaluating the long-term implications of ACA. Among the primary sources of concerns and questions in ACA is the difference between the law’s content and the implementation. This diversity has resulted in debate among stakeholders, including insurance companies, the people, and lawmakers. The implication of this difference is that further analysis is required regarding Obamacare and its socio-economic effect.

An analytical evaluation of Campbell and Shore-Sheppard’s (2020) article focuses on the social, economic, and political issues in relation to ACA. Socially, the ACA was aimed at ensuring coverage to every American regardless of the socio-economic status. The literature evaluation demonstrates that the number of individuals with insurance indeed increased. However, this has not enhanced the coverage, and the significance of quality improvement has also not been satisfactorily as intended. Economically, several issues have been raised concerning ACA. Notably, most of the individuals that enrolled for the insurance were previously on the Medicaid expansion. This puts to question whether all populations have benefited from the law. ACA is not suitable for the working and middle-class population receiving less support, especially those earning above 400% of the poverty level. These individuals constitute 40% of the total population. The Cadillac tax has been the foundation of most hypothesis and analysis. The tax was aimed at increasing revenue and offsetting the tax-exclusion for the insurance that was employer-sponsored. However, the scholarly sources have not established the actual implications of the Cadillac tax. The literature analysis has also demonstrated that the cost reductions and quality improvements are not entirely associated with ACA, calling for more research.

The article’s strengths and usefulness are centered on the consideration of various social, political, and economic factors and providing a summary of future areas of research. Campbell and Shore-Sheppard (2020) further provide both the positive and negative impacts of ACA. For instance, the analysis evaluates the effects of ACA on the inequality patterns in America. Notably, ACA extended access to health insurance and reduced the disparities in adults’ sociodemographic groups, including Latino and black. Reading the article further provide insights into various factors concerning the ACA. An example is Trump’s administration inputs and challenges to the law. The article’s key insight is that ACA has several impacts on Americans, although there is a need to revise it further and improve. Also, ACA presents with other issues, including an increase in healthcare providers, vital to quality and safety enhancement of healthcare delivery. Indeed, I would recommend the article to students as it exposes one to the wide range of literature related to ACA. The article also extends to the current COVID-19-related issues, introducing other factors that should be considered.

In summary, the article by Campbell and Shore-Sheppar provides a literature analysis of the political, economic, and social impacts of ACA and outlines key areas of future research in the three contexts. The article’s overarching goal is that although there has been wide literature on ACA, several areas require further evaluation. Examples include the impacts of public health interventions in the ACA, which has been made relevant in the COVID-19 period. The article’s value is high as it shows the relationship between Obama and Trump’s administrations and the current issues affecting the US healthcare sector. The article’s critical insight is the need for further research, especially the identified areas to improve the implementation process of Obamacare and eliminating the discrepancies in the content. These areas are the foundation of future studies.

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References

Bmpbell, A. L., & Shore-Sheppard, L. (2020). The Social, Political, and Economic Effects of the Affordable Care Act: Introduction to the Issue. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 6(2), 1-40.