The Violence Done to Health Reform by Congress and SCOTUS
As President Obama’s second (!) Inauguration approaches on Monday, I was thinking on his signature domestic accomplishment and the violence done to it by 2 years of relentless opposition in Congress and some surgical cuts in the Supreme Court (SCOTUS). John McDonough, the excellent resident health policy geek at Boston.com, beat me to it with a fantastic Affordable Care Act (ACA) damage assessment, where he concludes the law is battered but standing tall on the verge of implementation.
McDonough points out there have been eight significant changes to the ACA since the law passed in March 2010. Seven of the eight changes were done by the hands of furious Republican opposition in Congress, and one in the Supreme Court:
- Medicaid expansion is voluntary for states
- The Class Act is repealed
- $5B cut from the Prevention and Public Health Fund
- Funding for Community Health Centers is cut
- An IRS information reporting requirement on payments to corporations was repealed
- Congress imposes new penalties on Insurance Exchange subsidy recipients whose incomes increase during a coverage year
- Unspent funding for Health Insurance Co-Ops is rescinded, and
- Employee free choice vouchers are eliminated
After some three dozen repeal attempts in the last two years at taxpayer expense in excess of $50 Million, it’s impressive the damage wasn’t greater. And there’s more fighting to come — again just yesterday US Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), the GOP Vice Presidential candidate and Chairman of the House Budget Committee, said that he still would like to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. It ain’t over yet.
Resources:
Leverage Gorman Health Group’s experience with Medicaid health plans to develop a unique model that works for you.
Listen to a discussion focused on the lessons learned from MA and Part D when it comes to product strategy in the Exchanges.