The Affordable Care Act (ACA)

One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the prevention of chronic diseases and improving public health. There are various provisions that seek to promote the preventive care and improve the public health by providing a funding to cover for chronic diseases. It emphasizes the need for an introduction of strategy of national disease prevention as well as health promotion. According to Emanuel (2014), the strategy should incorporate effective and achievable methods in order to improve the Americans health status. It should aim to reduce preventable illness incidences in addition to disability cases in the United States. The Act brings empowerment to families by proving tools for the health improvement. It also lowers co-payments on Medicare for seniors in America. The title has provisions that positively affect the traumatic brain injury population. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is highly effective when it comes to addressing issues relating to traumatic brain injury through its emphasis on more research, the improvement in the healthcare delivery, and giving individuals access to Medicaid.

The first provision that is related to the traumatic brain injuries (TBI) population is “research on optimizing the delivery of public health services” (Senate of the United States, 2009, p.1218). TBI come with detrimental effects to patients as well as their families. Their families spend huge sums of money in the recovery process; additionally, the recovery takes a long period of time and involves psychological torture and stress. TBI patients suffer from numerous problems such as restlessness and moodiness. Lefaivre (2014) explains that the aforementioned conditions have a negative impact on the families, friends and even their health care providers, who seek for the best possible ways of improving the patient’s lifestyle and wellbeing. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel for the TBI patients, as the provision under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) paves way for research to establish an innovation center that looks into new models of care for TBI patients. The successful strategy will lead to enhanced service delivery for the population under study.

The second provision related to the population of interest is “community transformation grants” (Senate of the United States, 2009, p. 1182).  The ACA included the Community Living Assistance Services and Support for the patients with brain injuries and their families. The approach involves a new voluntary and premium insurance program with a view of helping adults with traumatic brain injuries remain independent. It contributes to the ability to participate in their communities and live above poverty level for Medicaid eligibility. According to the statics given by the Disease Control and Prevention Center, there are 2.5 million emergency hospital visits, hospitalization, and death of traumatic brain injuries (Emanuel, 2014). The leading forces behind the injuries include traffic by motor vehicle, assaults, and falls. The three most affected age groups are children between the age of zero and four, adolescents below twenty years old, and adults of more than sixty five years. Therefore, the rehabilitation of brain injury requires a comprehensive interdisciplinary model in delivering the services to the TBI patients. Senate of the United States (2009) is of the view that the appropriate model includes addressing medical, vocational, leisure, physical, behavioral, cognitive, educational, psychosocial, accessibility and the communication needs of the patients. The approach will help to reduce the secondary complications and activity limitations. It will also improve their participation in the communities. Therefore, the community transformation grants will assist the traumatic brain injuries population in the recovery and rehabilitation process.

Another provision is “improving access to preventive services for eligible adults in Medicaid” (Senate of the United States, 2009, p. 1169). The ACA invests significant resources into Medicaid for the expansion of eligibility. The ACA has made substantial subsidies in federal and off pocket limits with a view of making coverage affordable. Moreover, ACA provides the creation of a high-risk pool to provide immediate help to the currently un-insured individuals. The ACA also provides proposals to bundle post-acute and acute payment into a single payment for all services. The strategy will lead to redesign of the manner, in which rehabilitation of brain injury will be carried out from the injury time to the venues of post-acute care. There would be development of new workflow dynamics with a view of communicating a wider coordination care. For instance, Lefaivre (2014) affirms that a traumatic brain injury patient having a medium scale of Glasgow Coma will be required to stay shortly in the intensive care unit from the initial hospitalization. Thereafter, the patient will receive neurological floor stabilization. If there is presence of fluctuating fatigue and arousal levels as far as therapy treatment is concerned, the clinical team case manager will have to consider another venue for the following rehabilitation phase. In case the patient has tubs of tracheotomy and gastrostomy, he/she will require hourly suctioning because of pneumonia secretions. He/she will be admitted to a facility of long-term acute care and receive specialized care services for patients with serious medical problems. Moreover, the patient will receive special treatment with a warranted period of time extension. Therefore, the aim of the hospital for long-term acute care is the medical stabilization of the patient along with initiating progressive therapeutic interventions such as occupational therapy. It aims to increase the ability of the patient to involve in a deeper and comprehensive rehabilitation program. The patient will then be admitted to an inpatient facility for rehabilitation. Lefaivre (2014) affirms that during the recovery phase, there is weaning of the tracheotomy tube besides the gastrostomy tube. The treatment will lead to the daily improvement of the patient’s functioning. The individual then takes home transition with a justified intensive program both at home and in the community. Under the bundled payment, the innovative model has the capability of improving efficiencies, the experience of the patients and their families, and also increases the treatment effectiveness.

The fourth provision entails “removing barriers and improving access to wellness for individuals with disabilities” (Senate of the United States, 2009, p. 1198). The overarching aim of the ACA is the delivery of efficient quality care that brings the desired outcomes to the patient. Therefore, individual and population health care is improved and the costs are lowered. Also, Lefaivre (2014) asserts that traumatic brain injuries patients experience will improve with the expansion of services in facilities that are dedicated to the full recovery and the comprehensive rehabilitation. Thus, the innovation leads to restoration of normal functioning. According to Emanuel (2014), the cost structure is also significantly lowered. The final consequences are illustrated by the reduced mortality rate among the traumatic brain injury population. Moreover, outpatient centers and community programs have been incorporated to help the patients in the recovery and rehabilitation.

In conclusion, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides support to the traumatic brain injury population in their rehabilitation and recovery outside the traditional care system. In most cases, the TBI population incurs high costs for recovery and rehabilitation. Moreover, they suffer from psychological trauma and stress that affects both the patient and their families. However, the ACA provisions cater for the defined population by lowering the costs of the recovery and rehabilitation. The Act also established an innovation center that addresses the model of the care for the traumatic brain injuries population. Therefore, the Act provides hope for the traumatic brain injuries population to have their jobs after recovery and actively participate in their communities.

Related Free Healthcare Essays