The following bill is proposed in order to amend the Affordable Care Act nationwide and also to benefit my fellow Virginians that are in dire need of better health coverage. Granted, that the Affordable Care Act was an excellent attempt for the United States to codify a national government endorsed healthcare initiative, it is still deeply flawed and needs to be amended in order to be more successful such as the Canadian model and other European nations. This bill proposes to amend key provisions of the Affordable Care Act to ensure that the Act itself can achieve what its prior goals were in the first place.
Given that the Affordable Care Act was designed to make healthcare less of a burden within the United States, it has caused a great deal more complications that its primary objectives were, (“Mark R. Warner: Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia,” 2016). One option that has yielded great prospective results to meet the needs of Virginians that still do not have access to affordable health care under the Affordable Care Act is the Expanded Consumer Choice Act, (“Views on Healthcare,” 2016). What the Expanded Consumer Choice Act has achieved is the enactment of the Copper Plan, which provides lower cost and higher deductible plans to those who need it, (“Views on Healthcare,” 2016).
Another aspect that can be expanded upon from the Affordable Care Act is the notion that healthcare can exist easily across state borders, (“On the Issues: Healthcare,” 2016). Given Virginia’s proximity to neighboring states, it is highly recommended that the Affordable Care Act be less of a state run plan and be accessible at the federal level. This will promote efficiency given how many families move freely between states in the modern era and how many children now are going to universities in states that are quite far removed from their home states.
For those who have serious illnesses, I propose the Care Planning Act of 2015 that has allowed more choice overall, (“On the Issues: Healthcare,” 2016). This gives those who do have serious illnesses the ability to have more choice in the healthcare that they are provided and it gives the option to live a higher quality of life as they are suffering their respective illnesses. What is important to remember about these extreme cases is that these people who are very sick should not be fiscally burdened as they combat their life threatening illness. By doing this, we are failing as a state because these individuals need our help. If we look around the world at other healthcare systems, the United States is very far behind in this respect and we have to do better in order to succeed in giving our citizens a better quality of life overall.
Lastly, for those seniors who are currently subscribed to Medicare, I have proposed the Medicare Home Infusion Site of Care Act of 2015, which is targeted to allow the beneficiaries who are in desperate need of intravenous medication to receive their treatments in the comforts of their own home, which gives Medicare a lower cost, (“On the Issues: Healthcare,” 2016). What this bill has allowed is for those in need of such treatments to be able to pay less and have more comfort.
All in all, it is our duty to ensure that our citizens have the highest quality of life possible even when they are ill. The United States has a long way to go concerning healthcare; however, we can absolutely achieve great rewards by working together and proposing new fiscally productive ideas to combat and reform our existing healthcare system.
Works Cited
“Mark R. Warner: Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia.” Official Website. 2016. Web. 18 April 2016.
“On the Issues: Healthcare.” Mark Warner Opinion and Goals. 2016. Web. 18 April 2016.
“Views on Healthcare.” Mark Warner. 2016. Web. 18 April 2016.
