Dec 30, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement
In this second installment of a two-part briefing, the impact of the Affordable Care Act on healthcare spending by businesses and consumers during the past eight years is assessed
No single piece of legislation during the Obama Administration generated more controversy than the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which became law in 2010. It was touted by proponents within and without the administration as the needed solution to the nation’s healthcare problems.
The two biggest problems with healthcare in the United States are probably the sustained year-over-year growth in total healthcare spending and the large number of Americans who lack adequate health insurance. At the time that the ACA was signed into law by President Obama, there were assurances that this law would help solve both problems.
Thus, at the end of the Obama Administration’s eight years in office, both academic experts and journalists are writing their assessment about how the ACA has changed healthcare in the United States. This is a high-interest subject for medical laboratories and pathology groups, hospitals and health systems, and physicians. (more…)
Dec 16, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Accountable Care Act has reduced the number of uninsured, but has failed to deliver lower costs for most Americans or employers
More big increases are coming to Obamacare premiums during 2017. This is an important development and, depending on how the new Congress decides to address problems with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the consequences can be either positive or negative for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
Large increases in healthcare premiums can have a trickle-down effect on clinical laboratories and pathology groups since health insurers tend to reduce reimbursements to providers when they are in a financial squeeze. And while the November election puts the future of the ACA in doubt, a recently released Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study adds further evidence that Obamacare (colloquial for the ACA) has fallen short of its goal of reining in healthcare costs while simultaneously expanding healthcare coverage to millions of Americans.
The KFF study shows premiums in the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace will continue to increase in many regions in 2017. Researchers blame the higher price in part to the phasing out of the ACA’s reinsurance program and the unexpected losses many participating insurers have experienced. (more…)
