The Affordable Healthcare Act is 947 pages long.
This is a brief overview to better understanding how and when it will change healthcare in the U.S.
by Christian Winston
Gentry Woodard, director of development for the Scott and White Healthcare Foundation, recently spoke at a Health & Wellness Luncheon sponsored by the Bryan/ College Station Chamber of Commerce on the topic, “Understanding the Affordable Healthcare Act.”
Excerpts from that presentation have been included here to help explain a very complex act that will affect everyone in the healthcare spectrum from providers and insurers to the patients who receive care:
As the gap between rich and poor widens because of a disappearing middle class, the domino effect has produced a wider gap between people who can afford healthcare and those who cannot. Healthcare reform is needed in the United States because of this gap located between those people who have too much income to qualify for Medicaid and those people who do not make enough money to afford private insurance, or it is not provided by their employer. Currently, 32 million people in the United States are medically uninsured.
The Affordable Healthcare Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010, and will cost $940 billion over the next 10 years to cover approximately 32 million people. The Act is 974 pages long with 91 provisions.. There will be a 40% tax on expensive employer-sponsored health plans,a 10% tax on indoor tanning beds, and numerous other taxes and cuts to help offset costs of the Act.
Implementation of the Healthcare Act began in 2010 with Medicare reductions in rates and Medicare drug rebates. Small business tax cuts were enacted as well. The Act now requires health insurers to annually report their medical loss ratios. Other provisions enacted since 2010 include doctors and hospitals being required to sign off on the bill for it to go into effect, and insurers now allowing children to stay on their parents’ health insurance policies until they turn age 26.
The changes implemented in 2011 lead to a minimum medical loss ratio: small insurers must spend 80% of their premiums on medical services. There are now prescription drug discounts for seniors and Medicare reform. Medical tax cuts have been given to long-term hospitals, ambulance services and nursing homes.
Since 2012, payments have been tied to quality medical outcomes and the Act encourages integrated health systems. The bill also values base purchasing. New Medicare cuts to hospices and dialysis treatments and MDs will be encouraged to create accountability within care organizations for the quality of their services.
Beginning in 2013, there will be a state exchange notification and Medicaid coverage of preventative services. Deductions for compensation will be limited to $500,000 for health insurance company executives. Flexible health savings accounts will now be limited to $2,500.
There will be expanded Medicare coverage and health insurance exchanges beginning in 2014. A provision for annual fees on health insurance providers will cause most employers to provide coverage and most people to purchase healthcare coverage. If not, they face financial penalties for not having or providing health insurance coverage. Over the years, the Affordable Healthcare Act will slowly start to close the ever-prevalent gap between the health insured and uninsured.
Read More About the Affordable Healthcare Act
For a complete copy of the Affordable Healthcare Act as well as helpful sections on key provisions of the Act; how groups including employers, small businesses and employees will be affected by the law; and a timeline of the changes, visit http://www.healthcare.gov/law/.
