The Affordable Care Act (ACT) was signed into law by President Barack Obama
The Affordable Care Act (ACT) was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010. Many of the provisions of the law directly affect healthcare providers. Review the following topic materials:
About “ACT”
“Health Care Transformation: The ACT and More”
What are the most important elements of the Affordable Care Act in relation to community and public health? What is the role of the nurse in implementing this law?
Today, seven in 10 deaths in the U.S. are related to chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer, which are largely preventable. Additionally, 86 percent of our health care dollars are spent treating such diseases. However, only three cents of each health care dollar spent in the U.S. go toward prevention (American Public Health Association, 2019).
Though the Affordable Care Act provided coverage for 20 million Americans, there are still 29 million Americans out there that do not have coverage. Will those people focus their health care on preventative care? How can the Community health nurse help to change the focus to prevention if people can not afford insurance, can they afford out-of-pocket preventative care?
