Affordable Care Act Article 2022

Running Head: AFFORDABLE CARE ACT 1
Affordable Care Act
Ricardo DeAvila
POL 201
Professor Jill Young
April 07, 2020

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Affordable Care Act
With the soaring cost of health insurance mainly for the poor Americans who live hand to
mouth, the Obama administration had to find a way to cushion them. President Barrack Obama
had to move with speed to develop health policy that will reduce the cost of health insurance and
improve health care access for the uninsured. The ACA today has managed to withstand the
criticism of President Trump, who has so far failed to offer the best alternative. President Obama
considers ACA, commonly known as Obamacare, as a milestone in his eight-year presidency.
The Affordable Care Act addresses health care issues that are essential to Americans and affirms
the competence of the Obama-led government in making egalitarian policies.
ACA and government
The ACA originated from the executive arm of government. The U.S. Constitution
created the executive arm of government. The constitution sought to distribute power and
instituted separations of powers. Before the United States established the three branches of
government, the states seemed to act independently. They disregarded the national government
and could print their own money. The states also participated individually in trade negotiations, a
situation that seemed to render the federal government powerless/meaningless. To promote
effective use of power, the constitution opted to address its distribution. The articles of
confederation moved to create a federal government and state governments. This resulted in the
formation of three branches of government. The federal government shared power with state
governments. However, to ensure effectiveness and efficiency, three branches of government had
to be formed. This led to the creation of the executive, legislature, and judiciary. The executive
arm of government is the one that carries out laws and is made up of the president, vice

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president, and cabinet. In essence, the U.S. Constitution divides the federal government into
three branches, that is, executive, legislative arm, and the judicial branch (Sobel, 2019). The
legislative arm makes laws, while the judicial one assesses and interprets laws. Given this
structure of government, the executive which is headed by the president carries out laws. The
president, with his team of professionals, developed a policy that addresses critical issues of
concern to the public. The president is a symbol of national unity. Since the president bears the
responsibility of the entire country, he/she will have to make policies that take care of the needs
of a majority of Americans across all the states. Therefore, the ACA originated from the
executive headed by President Obama. President Obama felt that he had the responsibility to
deliver health insurance that will ensure even the most vulnerable in society can afford it.
According to Gluck & Huberfeld (2018), the ACA provided a window into modern American
federalism. It is also offered a window into modern American nationalism.
The ACA was implemented through a national structure that pulled together with states
to implement it. Even though power is distributed between federal government and states, they
are not co-equal. Since the federal government takes care of the entire country, it is obligated to
make policies that address the needs of all Americans across the country. A state makes policies
that are convenient for its people, but the federal government makes policies that address the
needs of all people. Therefore, the federal government under President Obama had to use the
federal powers it has to engage other arms of government like the legislative branch to debate the
ACA. With the federal powers vested on him, President Obama had to take a holistic approach to
engage several stakeholders from both the Republican Party and Democratic Party on an
important of healthcare. Together with majorly, the Democratic legislators Obama had to work
hard to ensure that the policy becomes law. Finally, the ACA became law when President