As part of an ongoing series to explore what is in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, this briefing dealt exclusively with how the reform law affects Medicare. As this legislation was developed, proposed changes to Medicare were among the most hotly debated issues. The briefing illuminated what is really in the law and what its provisions will mean for administrators, beneficiaries and the health care sector in the U.S. Cosponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
As part of an ongoing series to explore the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, this briefing dealt with how the new health reform law affects access to private coverage. A range of specific provisions were covered, including the new federal high-risk pools, tax credits for small businesses, health insurance exchanges, the individual mandate, and employer obligations. The law’s provisions governing private health insurance mark a dramatic change from past practice, and much attention has been paid by opposing sides to the potential implementation and legal issues.
This briefing is part of our ongoing series to explore the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA). A panel of well-qualified experts explained how the two health reform laws affect Medicaid, and to answered a variety of questions about topics such as Medicaid eligibility, financing, and other implementation issues. The Kaiser Family Foundation cosponsored.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 are now law. Whether you favored or opposed their enactment, a full understanding of the new laws is essential to further discussion of reform issues, including how implementation will be approached.
Health reform passed in March 2010 thanks, in part, to a budget reconciliation bill that made changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This toolkit explains how reconciliation works, and offers links to resources that go into more detail on subjects such as the “Byrd rule” and the important role of the Senate parliamentarian.
Health insurance exchanges can potentially serve a variety of policy ends, from promoting transparency and competition among health plans, to pooling or reallocating risk and administering subsidies for those unable to afford health insurance premiums. Exchanges can also play a role in health insurance oversight. Many of these functions are being carried out by the Massachusetts Connector, the exchange set up by that state’s reform law. Both House and Senate reform bills include an exchange, but the proposals differ in several important aspects. This briefing, cosponsored by the Alliance and The Commonwealth Fund, considered those differences.
Unhealthy behavior is costing America billions in health care expenditures, and making us less healthy as a people. Many large employers, recognizing the impact on the health of their workers and the companies’ bottom lines, offer financial incentives to their employees to exercise regularly, improve their diets, lose weight and quit smoking, among other things. Many employers cite substantial savings from these programs in their health coverage costs.
The coverage of abortion in a reformed health care system has become a topic generating considerable emotion in health reform debates. This resource list will help readers better understand what drives the positions of those taking sides on abortion within health reform.
One of the main goals of health reform is to increase access to health care. Frequently overlooked in this effort is finding effective and efficient mechanisms for determining eligibility and enrolling those who are eligible for existing public programs, primarily Medicaid and the the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The health reform proposals being considered in both houses may impose responsibilities on both individuals and employers to have, and help pay for, coverage. Subsidies for some small businesses and for individuals with incomes up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level have been proposed. But will individuals and businesses be able to pay the amounts required of them above the subsidies? If those costs are onerous, Congress may exempt many people from the coverage requirement or significantly reduce the penalties for noncompliance.
Health care delivery poses unique challenges in rural communities. Provider shortages are particularly acute in rural America, where levels of educational achievement are generally lower and there are fewer opportunities to receive medical training. Unemployment and uninsurance rates are higher in rural areas than elsewhere. Join us for a discussion about how some aspects of pending reform proposals — coverage expansions, subsidies, delivery system improvements and health information technology including telemedicine — may have a substantial impact on rural health care.
Public support for health reform waxes and wanes depending, not only on what’s being proposed in the reform proposals, but also on who asks the question and how it is asked. Some recent polls indicate a majority of Americans support health care reform now; is that still the case? Do people want to pay for covering the uninsured – and if so, how much? What do seniors think about paying for health reform partly through changes to Medicare? Some polls indicate that most people like their physician but not the system. What if health reform means changing the system Americans now enjoy?
As Congress hashes out proposals to expand coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans, the latest count of the number of uninsured is a significant factor. Though some believe economic recovery is underway, Americans are still losing jobs by the hundreds of thousands each month. With the loss of jobs, so goes health insurance. How does this reality affect health reform and the notion of building on the current system? Has the complexion of who is uninsured changed? What has been the role of public programs in the recession?
Before the Congressional summer recess began, four committees approved major reform bills; negotiations continue among some members of another. Now Congress returns having heard an earful from constituents about health care. We are clearly at a crucial stage in our consideration of how, and to what extent, we should reshape our health care system. What is the status of major reform bills?
Health care access, particularly access to primary care, is on the minds of all who are following health reform efforts in Congress. President Obama has said that expanding access to health care to more Americans is one of the main goals of reform. Democrats and Republicans from both houses agree that any reform plan must increase access. But how can that goal be accomplished, particularly in a time when reducing health care costs and increasing quality are also priorities?
As the key congressional committees draft health reform legislation, they are keenly mindful of the costs of various provisions. Congress will look to an array of options, including both savings from the health care system and new revenues, to finance coverage expansions and reforms to both the delivery system and insurance markets. What options hold the most promise? How do the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) go about “scoring” various financing options? Are there credible options for financing reform? Is there room for bipartisan cooperation in paying for reform? This July 31 briefing, cosponsored by The Commonwealth Fund, addressed these and related questions.
As the health reform debate heats up in summertime Washington, discussions center around how to make our current system more efficient, provide better value for the dollars spent, and extend coverage to those without it. The Senate Finance Committee options papers and the House tri-committee report devote whole sections to proposals to reduce health care costs. These proposals consider ways to find savings from working more efficiently, and slowing the growth curve — savings that could help pay the substantial cost of comprehensive health reform.
For reporters who normally cover topics other than health reform, today’s reform debates can mean playing catch-up. They may be facing a new vocabulary – public plan option, health insurance cooperative, employer mandate, individual mandate. Maybe they’re trying to figure out what all this means for readers, viewers or listeners.
The idea of choice has long been a hallmark of the American health care system. We pride ourselves in believing that we – not government bureaucrats – choose our doctors, hospitals and health plans.
