Healthcare Reform in the United States

What is Healthcare Reform?

Healthcare reform is a preface oftentimes used for debating major health policy changes or creation. It is often in the form of governmental policy that will affect healthcare delivery to a specific place or sector of a society. In most cases, healthcare reform will generally attempt to:

• Widen the populace that receives healthcare coverage through either publicly sponsored insurance packages or private sector insurance companies
• Expand the array of healthcare providers consumers may choose from
• Improve the access to healthcare specialists for a wider range of the population
• Improve the quality of healthcare overall
• Offer more healthcare options to all citizens
  
• Decrease the costs associated with healthcare

Current Healthcare Reform

In the United States healthcare reform is currently a major issue. Current reform is trying to answer long ignored questions pertaining to accessibility, cost, fairness, and amounts contributed by the government. One thig is for certain, healthcare in the United States, when considering both public and private sectors, is the most expensive in the world. Americans spend more on healthcare than any other country, meaning you need to keep a close eye on your practice’s RCM ( Revenue Cycle Management)

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into law The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) and on March 30 the same year, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. This law includes provisions that would take effect over the subsequent four years. These provisions included expanding Medicaid eligibility for citizens making up to 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL),  subsidizing insurance premiums for people making up to 400% of the FPL ($88,000 for family of 4 in 2010) so their maximum “out-of-pocket” expense for annual premiums will be from 2% to 9.5% of their income.

The costs of these provisions are offset by a variety of taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as new Medicare taxes for those in high-income brackets, taxes on indoor tanning salons, cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of a traditional Medicare program, as well as fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies; there is also a tax penalty provision imposed on people who do not obtain a health insurance policy.

Need more information on healthcare reform and how it could affect your RCM? Call the Rev-Ignition  specialists today at (844) 297-9944 to answer these and all your medical billing questions.