MHA 612 Discussion – Understanding the Health Care Reform Act

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

MHA 612 Discussion – Understanding the Health Care Reform Act

Week 2 Discussion:

After its enactment in 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) changed the financial operations of Medicare in the U.S. As a result, patient financial responsibility increased while instilling lower reimbursement rates to providers (LaPointe, 2016). The ACA has caused some positive effects for providers and negative effects for others. On the upside, value-based care has caused an increase in a higher quality of care (LaPointe, 2016).  On the downside, the change has caused an increase in unpaid patient payments (LaPointe, 2016). Post ACA, patients are responsible for more of their out-of-pocket expenses than before the implementation of the ACA. More patients are also engaged in high deductible plans which contribute to the non-payment of out-of-pocket expenses, this includes Medicare patients as well. Providers can expect to collect only 50%-70% of out-of-pocket costs from their patients post ACA as patients are buying higher deductible plans to avoid high premiums (LaPointe, 2016). Overall, the ACA is affecting physician and provider’s bottom lines. As the ACA progressed, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) imposed penalties for any providers that do not comply with certain initiatives (Page, 2013). Primary care and preventative care services are of higher value than prior to the ACA. Between 2011 and 2015, Medicare paid physicians a 10% bonus for primary care services rendered.

Reference:

LaPointe, J. (2016). How the Affordable Care Act Impacted Healthcare Revenue Cycle. Retrieved from 

Page, L. (2013). 8 Ways the ACA is Affecting Doctor’s Incomes. Retrieved from