The Wrangling Continues, but Health Care Providers Must Move Forward

On Thursday morning, the U.S. Senate Republicans were successful in challenging two provisions in the House of Representatives’ proposed amendments to the health care reform bill, which was signed into law by President Obama. The two provisions related to changes to the student loan industry, and are the result of not having completed a budgetary impact analysis—a requirement under Senate rules for these types of reconciliation procedures. The end result: the two provisions were removed, and the bill was sent back to the House of Representatives for a revote, where it did pass again.

As the wrangling over reform continues in Washington, the reality for providers across America is this: President Obama signed into law the most sweeping legislation in decades on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Amidst all the remaining uncertainty, one thing we can be sure about is it will create dramatic changes to health care as we currently know it. Whether these changes will be positive or negative is unknown, and despite what we hear and read in the media, only with the passage of time will we understand the true implications.

The new law has provisions that will expand coverage to the uninsured and protect reimbursement to certain rural providers, but in total, will reduce Medicare outlays by approximately $500 billion. It creates insurance exchanges and also raises new revenues through a variety of different taxation methods. How each of these provisions affects not only health care providers, but the overall U.S. economy, will only be seen as time progresses, because many are set to phase in over the next eight to ten years.

Health care providers should look to the future and start educating themselves, preparing a plan, and implanting change within their organizations. The amount of detail in the new law is endless, and many of the provisions are interrelated. For example, the expansion of coverage to the uninsured will most likely create new revenue streams, but will the reimbursement received offset the proposed Medicare reductions? Undoubtedly numerous questions like this arise, and if you aren’t familiar with key provisions, providers will not organize and train accordingly. And ultimately, this lack of preparation will negatively impact your ability to effectively care for the communities you serve.

So, as a provider community, it’s time to focus and move forward. Together, let’s become well-informed and develop the plans that are critical to sustaining the mission of providing health care—a mission that virtually all Americans have come to rely upon.