'Tomorrow' May Finally Have Arrived - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: A Necessary First Step Toward Health Care Equity in the United States

Abstract

This essay provides a brief overview of the major provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, characterizing the federal effort to require health insurance coverage for all Americans as a first step in an incremental process of expanding access to health care services on an equitable basis and controlling the costs of health care. The essay argues that the success of health reform efforts such as PPACA should be measured by how well the initiatives achieve the goal of providing necessary health care to all and not by whether particular mechanisms can be characterized as satisfying ideological preferences for “capitalism” or “socialism.”