Patient Protection Act

The Patient Protection Act of 2010 is the major health care reform bill, signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. It would expand health care coverage to 31 million currently uninsured Americans through a combination of cost controls, subsidies and mandates. It is estimated to cost $848 billion over a 10 year period, but would be fully offset by new taxes and revenues and would actually reduce the deficit by $131 billion over the same period. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes:
1) Creation of a new insurance marketplace, resulting in expanding access to coverage
and the formation of state‐based Exchanges
2) Sweeping insurance market reforms
3) Fundamental changes to Medicare, expansion of the Medicaid Program, and reforms
to Part D, closing the “Donut Hole” by 2020
4) Fraud and abuse, health IT, and prevention and wellness initiatives, including the
promotion of prevention programs across the health care system.

After reading about the Patient Protection Act I feel like it was a good idea but do not believe everyone will abide by it. Even though the bill stated everyone requires health insurance but still everyone cannot afford health insurance. It seemed to improve public programs such as medicaid and children's insurance such as CHIP. For health care facilities Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Payments it reduces state disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments, except for Hawaii, by 50% or 35% once a state's uninsurance rate decreases by 45%, depending on whether they have spent at least or more than 99.9% of their allotments on average during FY2004-FY2008. Requires a reduction of only 25% or 17.5% for low DSH states, depending on whether they have spent at least or more than 99.9% of their allotments on average during FY2004-FY2008. Prescribes allotment reduction requirements for subsequent fiscal years. Revises DSH allotments for Hawaii for the last three quarters of FY2012 and for FY2013 and succeeding fiscal years.With the act, it now allows these facilities to have to meet specific performance standards for a certain performance period. It allows the hospitals to be able provide to the government that they are doing a satifactory quality measures. I also like the fact that they get penalized for not providing a quality measures satisfactorily, beginning in 2015.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and...Care_Act
dpc.senate.gov/healthreformbill/healthbill04.pdf
www.cuindependent.com/.../cu-students-weigh...care-act/31290