Patrick McDonald Source 5

How did the overall process of implementing the Affordable Care Act go?

Brill, Steven. America's Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

The book I read was America's Bitter Pill by Steven Brill. He took on the task of recounting all of the events of the idea of the ACA all the way to it implementation and how it has succeeded and failed. He starts off by talking about how they were fighting to get the 60th vote needed to pass it and how they lost it to a republican taking the seat in congress. They almost thought that there would be no bill at all when that happened. Then the book goes on to talk about how it finally got through and approved. Also, he continues to talk about how poorly the website was implemented. He said there were too many people in charge and that they were basically determined to fail because no one had taken on such a large task before. He mentions that the US total healthcare spending is $3 trillion which is more than the next ten countries combined. He also states that we spend as much on treating back pain as we do on our police force.

I think it is good to look at the entire implementation of the ACA and this book does just that. This source makes me think that the ACA was good in concept, but it has many flaws and has suffered many issues. I agree with it in that the way the website was implemented was absolutely atrocious and that there are many hidden cost that people did  not expect. I really do not have anything to disagree with because it is all pretty much fact sprinkled with his opinion. This source does answer my question at the top because I now understand the full process of the ACA. I have a great grasp on it overall and I can use it to help with my main topic of how the ACA affects cancer patients and survivor. 

This responds to my sources by agreeing with the ones that talk about spending and how much money companies and hospitals make off of people. It does not really talk about cancer specifically because it was focused  on the ACA itself rather than specifics. It is just the general information about the way the act came to be and how it has turned out so far rather than a specific topic. I tend to agree with the side that believes that the act is costing way to much money for people, so I agree with the author of this book. 

This source has really answered all of my questions on the ACA itself and I already feel like I have a good background on the cancer side of my paper too. This is my last source so my research is essentially over unless I feel like I need more help, but I feel like I have a really good understanding of my topic now. I believe I have the positive side of the argument answered, as well as the negative and I also have a general idea of the act as a whole. I feel ready to write my rough draft soon.