Kayla Fraley

Art Gutierrez
UL100ZA
November 22, 2014

Affordable Care Act Research: An Annotated Bibliography

"About the Law." United States Department of Health and Human Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 23
Sept. 2014. <http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/index.html>.
This source is a website that is created and run by the federal government. The whole website is
related to various health issues that may concern Americans. It is a resource that is available to
the public to gain general knowledge about a wide range of health related topics.
This will be a beneficial source for my research, because it will outline many of the general
points of the Affordable Care Act. In addition, because this is a site that is open to the public, the
language will likely be much more simplified and easier to understand, which could be beneficial
in interpreting other sources that I may find.
Anderson, Amy. "The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Health Care Workforce." The
Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
This source is an article that is written by a registered nurse. In the article Anderson gives her
thoughts on the implications she believes the Affordable Care Act will have on the United States.
Her overall thoughts are that the outcome of the act will be more negative than positive.
I think this source is beneficial to my research in that the author is a nursea member of the
health care profession who may see the act from a different perspective. I think the way the
Anderson lays out her information is very straightforward and creates a well-composed article.
1. Relevancy
This article discusses the implications that the Affordable Care Act has on health care and
health care professionals. The author is able to present various aspects of the act and
analyze them in relation to the health care world. Anderson makes very clear that she
believes the consequences of this act will be harmful to the workforce and patients.
2. Accuracy
The author of this article has a nurses perspective which could create a unique sort of bias. After
reviewing the references she uses throughout the article, it appears that the author has used a
multitude of reliable sources. These sources range from various health sites to government sites,
educational sources.
3. Currency

This article was written in the spring of 2014. Due to the fact that this article was written less
than a year ago, the information it provides can be assumed to be appropriately current. I also
viewed the sources that the author referenced and those too were within an appropriate time
frame to qualify this article as current.
4. Authority
The author of this article is a registered nurse. In addition to this she has also completed a
doctoral level of education. The website which I was able to find this article on is one that
compiles various researchers work from many fields for the public to view.
5. Purpose
I am of the opinion that the purpose of this article is a combination of informing and persuading.
As far as informing goes, the author seems to provide various data and statistics to educate the
reader on some of the implications of the act. As far as persuasion is concerned, Anderson makes
it very clear that she is not a proponent of the act and goes to great lengths to describe the
negative impacts it will/does have.
6. Rating
I would rate this article a 4. I believe that the article was well researched and I appreciate the fact
that the author supports her claims with data. I didnt give the article a rating of 5 due to the fact
that there isnt necessarily a lot of balance to the article as far as positive and negative
implications go.
Gardner, Deborah B. "The Future of the Affordable Care Act." Medscape Log In. N.p., n.d.
Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
This article is one that focuses on the future implications that would, or do, stem from the
Affordable Care Act. It makes more mention of the negative implications than anything, but it
does make the point that it could be more harmful to not go ahead and follow through with the
plans that have been set.
This source will allow me to not only evaluate the consequencesboth good and badof the
past and present, but I will be able to gather information on the potential effects this act could
have on our countrys future.
1. Relevancy
As mentioned in the title of the article, this source again focuses on implications of the
Affordable Care Act. This source is different than my others ones, because it concentrates on the
future of health care and individuals in regards to the changing health care system and
implication of the act. Though the article tends to sway toward a more negative perspective of
the act, it also acknowledges that it may be wiser to continue following through with it.
2. Accuracy

In comparing the information from this article to some of my other sources, I feel that this article
contains accurate information. With that said, I do believe there is a little bias. This idea was
brought to my attention when reviewing the sources referenced and one was from a health blog
and the other was an article written by another individual.
3. Currency
This article was written in 2012. This is not quite as current as my other sources, but I still feel
that it is relevant and reliable. All but one of the referenced sources is also from the last five
years.
4. Authority
The only information the article gave about the author was her name. However, I took it upon
myself to do some additional research on the author to verify that she was in fact a credible
author. In conducting this research I found that Gardner is an RN and also has her PhD. I feel
comfortable saying that she is a reliable source of information.
5. Purpose
The purpose of this article is to inform the audience of the outcomes the Affordable Care Act
might have and the implications they would have on the future of our country and our citizens. I
believe that through her article, Gardner is trying to assist in educating individuals on what can
be expected in the future of health care if the Affordable Care Act continues to be implemented.
With that said, I also feel that there may be a slight amount of persuasion that comes across in
the article, due to the authors feelings that the act is not all too beneficial for our countrys
health care system.
6. Rating
I am going to rate this source a 3. There are a couple contributing factors to this rating. First, I
would have like the author to have referenced more sources and maybe less biased ones. I also
realize that this article isnt quite as current as my other sources which played into my giving it a
lower rating. Lastly, I found this article a little bit difficult to read, and would probably use other
sources before this one if given the option.
Johnson, Eric J., et al. Can Consumers Make Affordable Care Affordable? The Value of Choice
Architecture. Plos ONE 8. 12 (2013): 1-6. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Sept.
2014.
This is a scholarly article that was written to present ideas as to what Americans can do to adjust
to the Affordable Care Act. There are several experiments and surveys that this article presents to
support its claims.
Though this is a slightly more biased source, I believe that it provides an interesting aspect to my
research. I think it is valuable to obtain information that involves the opinions of the general
public regarding such a controversial topic as well.

"Obamacare / Health Care Laws - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept.
2014. <http://healthcarereform.procon.org/>.
This website is a source that compares the pros and cons of various topics. This particular article
weighs the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act. In simple terms, this site lays out many of
the good and bad aspects of the Act side by side so that they can be assessed.
This will prove to be a valuable resource for my research for the reason that I will be able to
consider many of the pros and cons of the Act. This concept should allow me to keep from
forming an unfairly biased perspective on the topic.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. U.S. G.P.O. (2010) (enacted). Print.
This source is the original government document that is the Affordable Care Act. The document
explains all the requirements, stipulations and aspects of this act and was passed by the federal
government in 2010.
This will be a useful source for me, because I will be able to base my other sources accuracy
upon the facts stated in this original document. If there are statements in another source that are
inconsistent with that of the Affordable Care Act, I will know that the respective source is most
likely not a reliable one.
Porterfield, Shirley L. "Health Insurance and Access Among Young Adults With Disabilities:
Impacts of the Affordable Care Act." The Society for Social Work Research. N.p., n.d.
Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
This article focuses on the implications that the Affordable Care Act has on young adults with
disabilities in America. There are studies that are presented in the article and ultimately, the
author concludes that the ACA does seem to have a positive impact on this group of individuals.
I feel that this source provides a unique aspect to my research, because it focuses on a specific
group of individuals. Rather than just analyzing the act from a macro perspective, I think it is
interesting to dig a little deeper and realize some of the impacts it has on various individuals in
the country.
1. Relevancy
Just as my other sources, this article also discusses some implications of the Affordable Care
Act. Unlike some of the other sources I have gathered, this particular article concentrates on one
group of people. There are several implications of the act that may especially affect young
adults, and even more so, young adults with disabilities.
2. Accuracy
I believe there is some slight bias from this article; however the bias isnt as clear cut as some
sources. I think the largest bias of this article is related to the fact that its focus is purely on
young adults with disabilities, and therefore it more or less disregards the effects the act could
have on other individuals. The other bias the article presents is that overall, it is in support of the
act.

3. Currency
This article was written in January 2014. Since it is important that articles used for reference are
written within five years of citation, this article is considered current. The other factor of timing
that occurs for this topic is that the health care system is always changing so the closer to date a
source can be, the better. Since this source was written less than a year from the current date, I
believe that it is an appropriately current source to use.
4. Authority
The author of this source is Shirley Porterfield, who has her PhD and is a professor at a United
States University. I retrieved this source from a conference website. To further that explanation,
this particular source was a presentation given in January. The conference was related to social
work and research.
5. Purpose
The purpose of this source is to inform readers of the implications on young adults with
disabilities that the ACA has. Furthermore, it seeks to persuade the audience that the impacts on
this group of individuals makes the Affordable Care Act a very worthwhile change to our health
care system. An underlying purpose of this source is also to inform the audience on what exactly
disability is defined as.
6. Rating
I would rate this source a 3. I believe that there are aspects of this article that will serve as very
beneficial to my research and that it presents a new perspective than my other sources have. At
the same time, I feel like the fact that it does focus purely on a single group of people that some
of the information could be pretty biased.
Shaw, Frederic E., et al. "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Opportunities for
Prevention and Public Health." The Lancet 384.9937 (2014): 75-82. ProQuest. Web. 26
Sep. 2014
This source discusses some of the more specific points of the Affordable Care Act and the
implications that it has. The article really focuses on the disease prevention and public health
benefits that this act provides.
I will be able to use this source to evaluate some of the positive aspects that the Affordable Care
Act brings to our country.
"The Affordable Care Act Decision." Google Books. Ed. Fritz Allhoff and Mark Hall. Taylor &
Francis, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
This source provides a unique contribution to my research. Compiled into one book are essays
written by several scholars from various education fields. These fields range from philosophy, to
law, to political science.

I think this will be helpful to my research of the Affordable Care Act for the reason that it will
allow me to compare a wide range of perspectives on the topic from well-educated individuals. I
believe it will also provide a different spin on the information I have gathered through my
other sources.
1. Relevancy
As evident by the title, this book presents more information about the Affordable Care Act. The
interesting thing about this source is that there are many perspectives from several educated
people who contribute to the book. The book provides philosophical and legal implications of the
act.
2. Accuracy
I find this book to contain accurate information in the fact that there are a range of perspectives
in regards to the ACA from various fields of knowledge. For this reason, I would say that overall
this book is able to remain fairly unbiased. However, if one were to take individual sections of
the book (in other words, analyze the information presented by a single field of study), I believe
that the information presented would take on much more of a bias relating to the respective area
of study.
3. Currency
This book was published in 2014. From this information alone, we cannot absolutely conclude
that all the information it contains is current. Unfortunately, because I was unsuccessful in
finding dates on the individual essays/compilations throughout the book, I am unable to say for
sure whether or not this is in fact a well updated source.
4. Authority
The authors of this book are many. Various sections of the book are composed by multiple
authors from multiple areas of study ranging from philosophy, to law, to physical science. I
believe that this variation in authors increases the books credibility. There were also two
individuals who edited the compilations in the process of creating the book, whom are qualified
with PhDs.
5. Purpose
The purpose of this book is, most simply, to provide the legal and philosophical implications that
come with the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the aim of the book is to bring together a series
of perspectives to create an overall image of the act. For example, this allows readers to view the
act from a lawful perspective as well as a philosophical one, and so on.
6. Rating
I would rate this book a 3. I really like that the book brings together a variety of perspectives on
this topic and I feel as though that fact brings a lot of value to my research. The reason I felt I
needed to downgrade the rating to a three is for the reason that I was not able to find a date on
the individual essays that were compiled.

United States Senate. "The Affordable Care Act: The Impact of Health Insurance Reform on
Health Care Consumers." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
This particular source is the written documentation of a government hearing that involved
discussion of the Affordable Care Act. This source has a slightly different dynamic than my
other sources due to the fact that it is a conversation between a handful of knowledgeable people
who are involved in the act on a first hand basis.
I will be able to use this source to contribute to my research by comparing the statements made
by the individuals who are actively involved with the act with those made by the general public
or scholarly articles.