How does the Affordable Care Act hurt cancer patients?
Gottlieb, Scott. "How ObamaCare Hurts Cancer Patients." Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition 31 July 2013: A13. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
The first argument this text claims is that a program called 340B has been used to increase the cost of cancer care to offset the cost that the new law makes the hospitals pay as well as decrease the quality of care. Essentially, hospitals can buy discounted cancer drugs and ask the government to pay the full price while they pocket the rest. So by buying expensive cancer drugs, the hospitals can make more money. 340B was originally intended for 90 hospitals, but now over one third of all hospitals are approved for it. In 2011 hospitals made a profit of over $190 million from buying drugs cheap and selling high to patients. The new law also is going to allow cancer centers to participate in 340B. Another thing the article goes into is the fact that hospital costs are already $6500 more expensive to be treated in compared to a private practice. Hospitals are where people will go because of their new health insurance. The drug companies are also losing more revenue now then ever.
I have been looking for an article on a negative for a while and this one hits the act hard. I was very surprised at how much revenue is being made from people with cancer. I cannot believe hospitals are able to charge such a markup on the drugs given to the patients. This text definitely makes me wonder whether or not the act is doing what it says it would. I definitely want to find out more on the 340B program. It does answer my question in that there are some negatives to the ACA. I will question it by researching more about 340B and other potential negatives.
This article responds to my other sources by showing that the ACA is not necessarily what it is cracked up to be. The conversation with my other sources would be the potential the act had versus the results for cancer patients. There are some benefits from it, but there are definitely some underlying problems to the act.
My next plan is to see if there are any other issues with the ACA and cancer patients or survivors. I am not 100% convinced that the act is as good as it seems. I also want to read more on the 340B program. The answers I have so far are that the ACA can help childhood cancer survivors receive the proper checkups that they need. Also, I know that it has a positive impact on minorities receiving cancer treatment.
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