Background. The 2010 Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ACA) is heralded as a significant federal intervention into US health care. In many circles, the ACA is defined as a government effort to reform our health industry. Other argue that the legislation was focused primarily on gaining increased oversight of insurance reform. Independent of what the ACA accomplished and what is its status today, it is a harbinger of future federal involvement is US health services. As such, understanding the impact of the ACA and its implementation consequences is an important objective of this course. Week_1 Assignment. The purpose of this Assignment is to gain an understanding of the ACA in terms of its a) focus areas and b) impact on healthcare finance. In Chapter 1, our authors provide a good overview of these to aspects of the statute and its subsequent administrative rules. Having this understanding will serve you well throughout this course. a) Assignment. Develop a written summary of the ACAs focus areas and the impact of each on US healthcare by answering the following questions: Outline 1. What are the Key Areas of Health Reform Originating in the ACA? 2. What is the Financial Management Implication for Each Area? 3. What does it Mean that the ACA is a Harbinger of Future Government Involvement in US Health Care? b) Assignment Guidance. Use each question as the outline for you written summary. Single space your written response to each question. As you respond to each question, provide specifics that support your narrative. In doing so, you do not need to reference the text book or other sources you consulted.