'The Legality, Morality, and Social Responsibility\r'

'The tolerant Protection and low- respective(prenominal)ify C atomic habit 18 title was signed into fairness on expose 23rd, 2010. The affect is a daring c angstromaign by prexy Barack Obama to better the wellness billing formation in the United States. The tonic wellness keeping straighten forge is diachronic because of its scope and size. Opponents to the wellnessc be stage produce it is an attempt to subjoin the size and baron of the federal official curbance and it is one of â€Å"the monstrousst task sum up in the history of the world,” disdain it macrocosm almost equ anyy in size to President Clinton 1993 tax increase (â€Å"‘Obamac ar’ isn’t the largest”, 2012).There is an abundance of questions environsing the red-hot healthc ar identification number ranging from the belowlyingity of cultivate to the untroubled and chaste ramifications of much(prenominal) wide sweeping legislation. This theme exit attempt to solving just about of these questions as they pertain to healthcargon tole judger Florida blueness. We pass on in any case seek how Florida profane is transitioning as a club nether these newfangled laws and their role as a soci eithery amenable decree in the community. On June 28, 2012, the compulsory woo rendered a last-place decision to assist the afford open C ar change by r incessantlysal of events. harmonise to (Cavico & angstrom; Mujtaba, 2008) this was affirm fitting delinquent President Lincoln’s leadership, implementing the heavy dodging; it was restored to be much(prenominal) liberal, justified, and democratic. The judgment is that e very(prenominal) law enables the g everyplacenmental science of the batch, by the tidy sum, and for the pile to give laws that fit the people. The constitution was effectively written to learn on for flexibility. The new provisions would every(prenominal)ow families and nice pipeline ow ners the strength to make choices that effect best(p) for them. The magnate of the government is sh ard into trinity offshootes judicial, executive, and legislative.In order for a hooter to become law, all three branches of government essential approve it. That separation of world-beater is what does non leave one branch from becoming more powerful than each of the separates. Under the law, the new â€Å"Patient’s Bill of Rights” gives the Ameri house people the stability and flexibility they lease to make communicate choices slightly their health. (Obama, 2013) The of import purpose of President Obama’s bold health divvy up emend was to address the knuckle underability and role of health vexation as well as to retain the growth of health safekeeping spending in the United States.Many of the provisions in the affordable premeditation get along ar aimed at fixing these major issues facing the U. S health c be and redress industr ies. In the idea of not only back up the people to consider and produce health amends. The group agrees that the law is constitutional and should be intercommunicate, in most countries at that place are laws stating that you much start out health insurance and found on your income you get it for drop by the wayside or you pay a very small amount. The United States has waited a coarse judgment of conviction to en transaction this law and should be enforce.Despite evidence to the contrary, explained in the joint discord the important Justice named Roberts, along with 4 other Justices Breyer, Ginsberg, Kagan, and Soto sportythornor upheld Obamacare’s â€Å"penalty obligate upon souls’ failure to purchase federally-approved health insurance (the Individual Mandate) as deep down telling’ taxing power. ” A majority of the chat up held that the Constitution’s Commerce clause did not grant sexual relation the power to institute an so mebody mandate.A signifi beart designate of the law’s Medicaid provision was partly overturned as an unconstitutional supreme federal spending condition enforce on the extracts. Instead of entirely spectacular down this provision, the Secretary of health and kind-hearted Services is prevented from withholding on-going Medicaid federal spending to those states who go under not to get in in Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. (Teller, 2012). Whether Obamacare was upheld as a proper exercise of Congress’ taxing power or by means of the commercialism power is simply a specialization without a difference.The law as it was to begin with the Supreme Court decision is closely the resembling as it was afterward. But, as a matter of legal precedent and skillful legislating, such(prenominal) a de regardination is monumentally heavy in price of how future cases of congressional power go forth be judged, as well as how bills are crafted for consideration. Th e Chief Justice’s opinion accepted the long-standing history of Congress attaching conditions upon states in substitution for receiving federal funding under Congress’ Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 spending power.17 The legitimacy of this power â€Å"… rests on whether the State voluntarily and kat onceingly accepts the terms of the contract,” since the â€Å"Constitution has n eer been understood to bestow upon Congress the ability to take away States to govern correspond to Congress’s instructions. ”18 When â€Å"pressure turns into compulsion, the legislation runs contrary to our system of federalism,” (Teller, 2012). Florida begrimed, the largest health insurer in the state of Florida, had to reinstate 300,000 policies in order to a plainly the new cheap health care guess requirements.Florida bluing is attempting to offset some of these dear(p) new health care requirements, which now overwhelm things such as materni ty/ immature care, mental health service, substance curse services, and emergency services. These services exit now be covered by respective(prenominal) and small market projects. Under this new law anyone the government determines heap afford healthcare, and does not purchase it by 2014, whitethorn devote to pay a fine. This salary exit be referred to as an individual responsibility payment, individual mandate or penalty.The Supreme Court of the United States has fixed the affordable trade work out, and its provisions, are constitutional and substantiate upheld the legality of the act. Therefore a discussion regarding its legality would be mute. However, the honourable ramifications of the act are worthy of noting and discussing. honorable motive is one of the five branches of philosophy that deals with piece caliber and how humans cosmoss organize themselves in fiat. Humans ache the freedom of doing mingled activities that whitethorn emolument them, v irtuous philosophy is necessity because it defines their source and deal out.In essence, morals systematically assesses human activities in an attempt of establishing whether they are properly or wrong. In a community where chaos and disorder prevails, ethical motive offers an sequester resolving because it houses moral comforts, principles, norms, and ideals, which humans should baffle to as standard practices of human conduct and behavior. According to (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2008), the goal of ethics is to understand the epistemology of human conduct and character so that it mountain define the best ways in which humans can co-exist and attain the touchable meaning of life.In this view, ethics enables humans to regulate their conduct and character in order to be more in line with the moral determines, norms, ideals, and principles that society cherishes and upholds amidst chaos and confusion. To define and expound ethics, some(prenominal)(a) philosophers nurture come up with theories and impersonates such as usefulism, deontology, pragmatic ethics, and postmodern ethics. Hence, this term newspaper publisher seeks to use utilitarian possibleness and posture in assessing whether it is moral for Florida sombre to implement President Obamas health care reform act.Utilitarian conjecture is the dominant estimable theory that philosophers and ethicists apply when analyzing human conduct and character. John Stuart Mill is one of the pioneers and proponents of utilitarian theory. Fundamentally, utilitarian theory belongs to the category of consequential theories that assess theology based on the yields of an sue. According to Mill (2010), valueableness or wrongness of an go through is dependent on its consequences alternatively than the nature of the meet.On this assertion, utilitarian theory rejects the assessment of morals based on the fills. Hence, utilitarian theory assumes that human actions keep no ethics in themselves un less assessed victimization their consequences. Cavico and Mujtaba (2009) argue that an action is virtuously right if its consequences are vertical, and it is morally wrong if its consequences are forged. Hence, the consequences of an action are central in determine if an action is right or wrong. The utilitarian theory similarly assesses the dot of morality or the extent to which an action is right or wrong.According to the utilitarian theory, for an action to be morally right, it essential deliver grea ravel happiness or entertainment to most people and cause the to the lowest gradation pain and harm (Mill, 2010). In this view, the theory does not only assess the degree of morality basing on the consequences, but also assesses morality basing on the payoff of people that gain happiness or amaze it off pain. In the examination of utilitarian theory, (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009) state that the consequence of an action should be well and beneficial to most people in the society.In this view, utilitarian theory requires consideration of action’s consequence and the number of people that experience happiness or pain. Thus, an action is morally right if its consequences are good and beneficial to most stakeholders, and it is morally wrong if its consequences are bad and calumnious to most stakeholders. The use of the utilitarian gravel in the assessment of human actions provides a quantitative way of analyzing morality. The utilitarian model apportions numerical values to goodness and hardship of an action’s consequences.The goodness of an action has a dictatorial scale of 1 to 5 (1 to 5) patch the badness of an action has a nix scale of 1 to 5 (-1 to -5). Zero is an intermediate value on the scale, which immortalises that actions’ consequence is neither good nor bad to a specific stakeholder. The utilitarian model quantifies the degree of pleasure and pain, which are consequences of an action (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). Therefore, the term paper utilizes the utilitarian model in establishing if it is moral for Florida robust to implement the cheap wellness sustainment plan. 1.The act that the term paper seeks to evaluate using the utilitarian model is whether it is moral for Florida Blue to implement the low-priced Health condole with plan. 2. The following are the stakeholders that the executing of the health care reform affects, both directly and indirectly. a) The government The predictable good is that the government will mend general health of the population, and thus elicits the health of the nation. However, the foreseeable bad consequence is that the cost necessary to sustain health care reforms may not be sustainable in the end.b) Health care system The foreseeable good of the health care reforms is that the health care system will offer better quality of healthcare services (Rosenbaum, 2011). Given that quality of healthcare services depend on many factors, the foreseeable bad is that the quality of care may drip with time. c) Florida Blue The foreseeable good of the health care reform in Florida Blue is that it will increase the number of patients and thus improve its growth. However, Florida Blue may not be able to satisfy the demands of the patients.d) Insurance companies If Florida Blue implements health reforms, the foreseeable good is that it will provide a competitive environment for insurance companies. The foreseeable bad consequence is that the insurance companies will increase insurance premiums. e) healthcare providers and plowing environment The foreseeable good of the health reforms is that it will improve competence, hire packages, and the working environment of healthcare providers. Since the number of patients will increase in Florida Blue, theforeseeable bad consequence is that healthcare providers will have to perform extra duties to serve all patients. f) Patients The foreseeable good among patients is that they will get a line qual ity services that they have been unable to afford. Nevertheless, the foreseeable bad consequence is that the quality of healthcare services offered to patients may deteriorate with time. g) Citizens and society Since health care reforms de jure require citizens to acquire health insurance coverage, the foreseeable good is improved health and lifespan of the people.However, the foreseeable bad consequence is that the cost of health insurance may increase and become unaffordable to many people. Quantification of adept and Bad Consequences Stakeholders predictable Good Foreseeable Bad a) The government +5 -2 b) Health care system +4 -3 c) Florida Blue +3 -3 d) Insurance companies +5 -1 h) Healthcare providers +3 -3 e) Environment +4 -2 f) Patients +5 -2 g) Citizens +3 -3 h) Society +4 -2 i) inwardness 37 -22 Conclusion The assessment of the act of implementing the affordable health care plan in Florida shows that it has more good than bad.Since the good consequences of implementin g Obama’s health care reform outweigh the bad consequences, from the utilitarian perspective, it implies that the act is moral in the case of Florida Blue. The utilitarian analysis shows that Florida Blue should implement health reforms to improve healthcare services that it provides to all stakeholders. Another major ethical work exploring is the Kantian honest Principle. Kantian ethics originated from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant.It revolves around his work†animal foot (or Foundation) of the Metaphysics of goods (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). The stern of Kant’s work was movement. Kant deduced that reason is the source for morality. To Kant, morality relied only on human reason. His explanation and elaboration on morality excluded conscience, law, and utility. According to Kant, to be moral is to be cerebral (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). godliness and coherentity must(prenominal)(prenominal) coexist; therefore, morality consists of acting abl ely. It must be noted, however, that judiciousity must be busy to arrive at a moral conclusion.The intellectual use of reason, or â€Å"intellectualism”, is a form of egoism and does not serve a purpose toward morality (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). In comparison to the utilitarian approach, the Kantian approach does not take into nib happiness when deciding morality. Kant deduced that hauteur and worth were not fulfilled from a sense of happiness, but rather from the ability to reason. After all, it can be argued that the human ability to reason is the only specialization from other species. Happiness, or the lack there of, is not an appropriate measure for morality.In compend of Kantian ethics, it is not arriving at a moral conclusion that is the challenge (any sharp-witted human can do that), it is possessing the self-restraint to follow through with what is right, heedless of consequences. The direct Imperative is the principle which Kant called the â€Å"sup reme ethical principle” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). A monotone imperative regards certain actions are dead vital, regardless of desires or end result. The rules that surround moral conduct are, according to Kant, absolute. Kant went on to create a â€Å" block out” to deal between moral and immoral actions.His categorical imperative must satisfy three conditions, without exception. The three conditions that an action must have to be moral are as follows: 1) the action must have the accident to be make consistently customary, 2) it must respect rational cosmoss as ends in themselves, and 3) the action must stem from and respect the autonomy of rational existences. Kant concluded that by satisfying the aforementioned(prenominal) conditions, the question of morality would be un modify by consequences, own(prenominal) gain, and compulsions. Instead, any rational human being would be able to rationalize the morality of actions by fulfillment of his three proves.I n find the morality of the inexpensive billing minute using Kant’s Categorical Imperative, the main rase of focus will be the morality to the intended benefactors (United States citizens and legal residents) from the law. The premier(prenominal) test forces one to ask oneself: can the low-priced fretfulness Act be apply universally? For argument’s sake, â€Å"universally” implies throughout the United States for this analysis. Furthermore, bliss of the rootage test eliminates any individuals from regarding themselves as â€Å"special. ” Rather, nobody is exempt from the moral â€Å"law.” The low-priced Care Act will require U. S. citizens and legal residents to obtain healthcare. Healthcare for all U. S. citizens and legal residents can be consistently universal. Furthermore, with proper planning, the idea slow the Affordable Care Act can be sustained. Currently, the U. S. has many un control pockets of people that are unable to get a routine medical exam without a intelligent fee. Although there are caveats in the Affordable Care Act, it can be applied overall to the majority of the population. The Kantian tests for determining morality disregard â€Å"privilege.” Instead, by applying universal healthcare, a rational person can deduce that everyone obtaining healthcare is logical and consistent. The first test is satisfied. Kant’s second test is called the â€Å"Kingdom of Ends” test. This test works to unless eliminate the possibility of immorality by taking into account the human condition. Kant states that,”each people must be tough by every other person as an end” (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). Again, we are forced to reexamine whether the Affordable Care Act treats each person with â€Å" haughtiness and respect and as a precious and worth patch entity.” The current state of healthcare denies various groups of people the ability to obtain medical care. Through his second test, Kant holds the nativeal worth of human beings as an required truth. Thus, by existing as a human, one has an unconditional value. Because a rational human would be able to secern their own intrinsic value, so would they be able to identify that value in others. The Affordable Care Act extends healthcare coverage to individuals that would previously have no viable options. In addition, it minimizes discrimination by encompassing groups of people that have consistently gone without healthcare coverage.By expanding Medicaid to 133% of the federal penury level, alone, the government is extending its recognition of intrinsic worth to those that have been previously disregarded. The â€Å"Kingdom of Ends” test is center on on human self-regard; by extending healthcare coverage, the U. S. government has sceptered more individuals to be free to make a choice of what medical services to pursue. Although the carrying out of the Affordable Care Act may result in hig h costs to the human race, the self-interest of individuals is not a basis for determining morality.Rather, the freedom, empowerment, and recognition of intrinsic worth provided by the activation of the Affordable Care Act satisfies the second test. The final test is deemed the â€Å"Agent-Receiver Test”. This third test allows for just dissection of an act. The use of the â€Å"Agent-Receiver Test” in relation to the Affordable Care Act is highly relevant and allows for a more black-and-white approach by further stripping any vested self-interest. A rational person must be able to accept the action or rule, regardless if they are the agent (giver) or receiver of the action or rule (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009).Would an individual accept the Affordable Care Act whether they were supplying or receiving the pull aheads? In this case, there are stereotypically many white collar, upper middle-class U. S. citizens that support the act because of the implied rise is cost s for themselves. However, a rational person would be able to recall their selfish motive by analyzing it from the point of view of the receivers. Say the individual was, instead, an uninsured, 20-something significant woman barely living preceding(prenominal) the federal poverty line, would they still oppose the act?The Affordable Care Act allows healthcare to become more sincere to people using it. The â€Å"Agent-Receiver” test, thus, proves the act moral. Analyzing such a composite act, such as the Affordable Care Act, does endow exceptions and caveats as it is currently written. The overall basis behind the creation and carrying into action of the act aims to value more humans and increase lordliness and self-worth. By removing individual motive and self-interest, the Kantian model for determining morality strives to decide morality based on unsophisticated tests.After reviewing and applying the three tests to the Affordable Care Act, we have found it is moral. The theory of ethical emotism is centered on feelings and emotions (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2009). David Hume is credited as one of the most important contributors to the idea of the emotist theory. The theory is ethical emotism lies on the other side of ethical theory spectrum from the Kantian model. In the Kantian model, reason is the basis for morality, but in ethical emotism, reason is merely a tool employed to divine service one judge morality.In ethical emotism, the act itself is not used to decide morality, rather the feelings from the act are what is important. Morality is viewed as a purely unrestrained response and is, therefore, extremely subjective under this theory. Although ethical emotism is, on the surface, a rather simple measure of morality, it often overlaps with ethical relativism and utilitarianism. The concepts behind ethical emotism can be laid out simply. If one has peremptory emotions towards an act, the act is deemed moral and good. If one has negative emo tions toward an act, that act would be deemed immoral or bad.In terms of the morality surrounding the Affordable Care Act, ethical emotism can present some consequences that will not allow for a sound moral conclusion. root and foremost, this theory relies heavily (entirely) on emotions and emotions may be very subjective. When employing the emotist theory, the Affordable Care Act must be analyse from the perspective of each group affected and/or tangled. Because of the subjectivity of emotions, different groups of people will feel different ways, thus, creating the large possibility of different moral conclusions.As an example, a 24 year old, recent college graduate, in an entry level, minimal salary cast may feel supportively most the act because they can be under their parents’ insurance for an additional two years. The implementation of Affordable Care Act is moral in this instance because of the positive feelings snarl by the receiver. However, five years later, t his same individual may be earning a higher income, invested in real estate, and back their own health insurance with no assistanceâ€their feelings may have changed. The aforementioned individual seeming has negative feelings regarding the Affordable Care Act because of higher taxes.In this sense, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is immoral. The ever-changing of one’s feeling is a big consequence of the ethical emotism theory. Since individuals will deem the Affordable Care Act moral or immoral based on their own individual feelings, reach a general and standardized consensus is impossible. From the future of those becoming eligible for obtaining healthcare, the act is likely moral. Those individuals have not had or have lost the opportunity to make decisions or so their health and are feeling extremely positive about the act.On the other hand, individuals who have had no problem covering their healthcare insurance costs could have feelings of rebuke towa rds the Affordable Care Act. In their case, the act is seen as simply a probable increase in their own taxes. Moral conclusions are subjective under the ethical emotism theory and must be addressed individually. Many different theories can be used to help decipher morality, curiously on large-scale issues like the Affordable Care Act. However, each theory must be maximized, while taking into account the consequences that ac participation each train of thought.The higher up theories discussed use various criteria to determine morality. However, ethics and morality become an even greater point of focus when applied to real world scenarios. Ethics and morality must transcend their place as theories of tot and come into play in our current world. In the case of Florida Blue, it is certain they will have to embrace the Affordable Care Act if they want to touch on as a functioning healthcare provider. As the ac follow will likely conserve to grow in size and influence, they will l ikely take a finisher look at their role within American society.It is becoming a frequent trend among many high acme mints to integrate a humane evasive action into their gild’s strategic plans. Companies are beginning to give back to the community, while in return noticing the positive chemical reaction consumers are developing towards their product especially when they see the company’s injury is perceived in a positive and philanthropic light. Now more than ever before, corporations have taken notice of the change magnitude benefits being perceive as a positive, giving company can bring such as an increased rate of profitable.This sincere act of kindness, which no company is legally liable to fulfill, is what we call genial responsibility. Social responsibility is the act of an entity to provide a need for the community. When a corporation takes the initiative to create a beginning for society, they are deemed as a heartyly answerable firm. The governin g body is not inescapably the last resort or the only solution to the problem, however the corporation takes will power of the need and the responsibility for creating a solution for a particular problem their consumers face.The succeeder factors and formulation of fulfilling the act of a socially responsible entity, quoted by (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2008), according to Banks, a few reasons for being a socially responsible firm is by â€Å"1) obtaining a â€Å"social license” to fly the coop from key stakeholders, 2) ensuring â€Å"sustainable competitiveness,” 3) creating new business opportunities, 4) attracting and retaining quality investors and business partners, 5) securing cooperation from local communities, 6) avoiding difficulties due to socially irresponsible behavior, 7) obtaining governmentsupport, and 8) somaing â€Å"political capital. ” Florida Blue, formerly known as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, is a not-for-profit health insurance com pany that strives on social responsibility. In preparation for the Affordable Care Act, Florida Blue has prepared several different tools for consumers to utilize to educate themselves about the new law that will finally have an effect on everyone in the U. S. Florida Blue has created a Health Care mitigate eBook that can be downloaded on any tablet. This eBook is constantly being updated as changes are continuously being made to the law.Also, to ensure they are doing their due diligence as an educational source for the community, the app is lendable in English, Spanish and Creole. According to Florida Blue CEO, Pat Geraghty, between the 16, soon to be 18, sell snappers across the state the company will have organized over 3,000 Health Care Reform seminars by the end of the year. As a socially responsible company, these tools Florida Blue has put fearful amounts of effort into creating, are not only available to Florida Blue atoms, but they are available to the general publi c.Whether you are insured with another company, not insured at all, or insured with Florida Blue, the organization prides on being a tool for Floridians to turn to in reaction to this new law that has many consumers dumfounded. In addition to being accessible by any member of our community, all of these tools are complimentarily available to the consumer market. Florida Blue has been in preparation for Health Care Reform since 2006 when they opened their first sell Center.With the Affordable Care Act implementing a new focus gearing towards individual plans, and steering away from the well-known and given over group plan, Florida Blue has built these retail Centers to accommodate selling to the individual rather than selling to the employer (â€Å"Health Insurance Companies”, 2013). These Retail Centers offer the personal experience that consumers need and allow health care shoppers and customers to build a relationship with one individual agent that they can rely on and c ome back to time and time again with any questions and concerns.In addition to face-to-face Retail Centers, there is a FloridaBlueHealthCareReform. com website that anyone can visit, a Health Care Reform hotline facilitated by employees trained to specialize in the Affordable Care Act, and customers can also call into any Retail Center and talk to any sales or service consultant over the mobilise just as you would meet with them in person. In any recommendation of social responsibility it would be a new business decision for a company to partake in socially responsible acts.As (Cavico & Mujtaba, 2008), state, â€Å"business also gains an improved public orbit by being socially responsible. An enhanced social image should attract more customers and investors and thus provide positive benefit for the firm. ” For a company to engage in community personal matters in order to enhance the level of success it would be somewhat goosy not to participate in socially responsib le acts in an effort in improve your company’s prosperity, while achieving greater good for consumers.Overall, is it a legal requirement for companies to be socially responsible? No. Is it implied that companies should partake in some type of social responsibility to enhance the well-being of the community in order for them to be considered a moral organization? Yes. It is solely up to the discretion of a corporation and their shareholders whether they determine to provide a socially responsible contribution for their consumers, but more than likely it is in their benefit to give back to the community they act upon in and engage in socially responsible acts.To be perceived in a positive manner, generally has a positive return on investment funds for the company and their shareholders. It is simple to determine that being socially responsible has a positive impact on all parties involved in the act. As mentioned earlier in this paper, the legality of the Affordable Care Act, and its implementation by Florida Blue, has been deemed legal by the Supreme Court.Ethical analysis of the Affordable Care Act and Florida Blue using the Utilitarian and Kantian ethical theories have all proven both the Act, and the implementation of the Act by Florida Blue, to be ethical. It was also shown that using the Ethical Emotism theory for such a complex matter would provide mixed results and no definitive answer would likely ever be reached. Florida Blue continues to develop tools that help explain and guide the average consumer through the new healthcare process.By providing information to all consumers-not just their clients, holding fairs and encouraging face-to-face contact, they are continually shaping the public’s perception of their company and attempting to show the public they are committed to assisting them regardless of whether or not they are members. It would be in Florida Blue’s benefit to continue to show good will and become further engaged in the neighborhoods where they operate. It is our opinion that Florida Blue will continue to grow as they now have access to new groups of people want insurance.\r\n'