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Challenges to proposed health care reform and legislation
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CDHP can be defined narrowly as health care aimed for customers, and refers to insurance plans in health that give members opportunity to use their health savings accounts , health reimbursement accounts, or similar medical payment plans to pay routine healthcare expenses directly. Health plan that are highly deductable cushion individuals from disastrious medical costs. The highly deductible health care plan is cheaper but is characterized by routine payment of medical premium using prefunded account by a debit card or insurance payment plan (Buntin, Damberg, Haviland & Kapur, 2006).
The cost and administrative burden of providing health care benefits to employees has grown rapidly in the last several years, and organizations have opted to cheaper means of doing this by resorting to CDHPs programs that are little bit cheaper when using deductible health insurance plans. This has led to the hope of healthier generation in the near future as the cost of health services would be manageable (Buntin, Damberg, Haviland & Kapur, 2006).
There two primary Health Plan forms today which include; Health Savings Account (HSA) and Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) are being heavily marketed to employers because they provide comprehensive financial assistance to employees for health purposes hence renders the employer with little cost to incur for employees medical cover. These forms of health care are very common in hazardous environment where there is high risk of getting injured like industrial workshops (Feldman & Parente, 2010).
A consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) offers lower premiums in exchange for higher patient deductibles than traditional plans. Those who adopt CDHPs are pay for most of their routine care. Its goal is to make cu...
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...ke FSAs, they could increase health care spending rather than reduce it, as any consumer-driven plan should. These problems could be fixed, however. Congress did authorize a one-time rollover of unused FSA funds to an HSA (same for HRA funds). Congress should go further than a one-time allowance and change the FSA’s use-it-or-lose-it rule to a use-it-or-save-it provision. Congress also could give employees an ownership right to their HRA funds
HSAs and HRAs provide an exciting new possibility for employers who seek to better control their health care costs. These plans also represent an opportunity for employees to become more active in the management of the health care that they receive. The choice between an HSA and an HRA deserves an employer’s careful consideration. The administrative, practical, and tax implications of each must be carefully considered.
While most countries around the world have some form of universal national health care system, the United States, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, does not. There are much more benefits to the U.S. adopting a dorm of national health care system than to keep its current system, which has proved to be unnecessarily expensive, complicated, and overall inefficient.
Healthcare in the U.S. has recently been affected by implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. The intent is to create a healthca...
The topic that I am choosing to do is on Obama Care. I chose this topic because the idea of the government forcing people to obtain insurance is wrong in my eyes. I am interested in analyzing the validity for what has been said about this topic in order to increase my understanding about Obama Care. I am not an expert when it comes to Obama Care. I know that this is an insurance that is being provided through the government for the general public. I have read that President Obama never initially read the whole bill itself. I also know that people who cannot afford it, but make too much money to qualify for Medicaid are being heavily encouraged to get this insurance. Some of the common knowledge that I have found that the general public has about this subject is that some people are for Obama Care and think that it is a wonderful idea and that there are some people that are dead set against Obama Care. Younger adults, specifically college age and individuals that are in their twenties tend to be for Obama Care. The insurance is being forced upon individuals that may or may not want it. It also seems as though that the insurance being offered is pretty generic in terms of coverage. Some of the questions that I have that I believe will aide me in writing this paper would be the following: What are the pros and cons of Obama Care? What are the thoughts of Obama Care with the people of the government? As well as what are the basics of Obama Care?
I am terribly ashamed to admit that prior to this class I really did not have a position on the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I simply ignored what was going on because I had insurance through my employer and I didn’t feel like the ACA would have that much bearing on my life. I was aware of some of the positive and negative aspects but had not really given it all a lot of thought. The one thing that did intrigue and interest me was the potential for Medicaid expansion. This was both exciting and troublesome because my job is totally structured around people who qualify for Medicaid. Increasing the rosters would have had a drastic effect on what I do and would have meant tremendous growth for my business but since Tennessee opted not to expand
When one examines managed health care and the hospitals that provide the care, a degree of variation is found in the treatment and care of their patients. This variation can be between hospitals or even between physicians within a health care network. For managed care companies the variation may be beneficial. This may provide them with opportunities to save money when it comes to paying for their policy holder’s care, however this large variation may also be detrimental to the insurance company. This would fall into the category of management of utilization, if hospitals and managed care organizations can control treatment utilization, they can control premium costs for both themselves and their customers (Rodwin 1996). If health care organizations can implement prevention as a way to warrant good health with their consumers, insurance companies can also illuminate unnecessary health care. These are just a few examples of how the health care industry can help benefit their patients, but that does not mean every issue involving physician over utilization or quality of care is erased because there is a management mechanism set in place.
There is an ongoing debate on the topic of how to fix the health care system in America. Some believe that there should be a Single Payer system that ensures all health care costs are covered by the government, and the people that want a Public Option system believe that there should be no government interference with paying for individual’s health care costs. In 1993, President Bill Clinton introduced the Health Security Act. Its goal was to provide universal health care for America. There was a lot of controversy throughout the nation whether this Act was going in the right direction, and in 1994, the Act died. Since then there have been multiple other attempts to fix the health care situation, but those attempts have not succeeded. The Affordable Care Act was passed in the senate on December 24, 2009, and passed in the house on March 21, 2010. President Obama signed it into law on March 23 (Obamacare Facts). This indeed was a step forward to end the debate about health care, and began to establish the middle ground for people in America. In order for America to stay on track to rebuild the health care system, we need to keep going in the same direction and expand our horizons by keeping and adding on to the Affordable Care Act so every citizen is content.
Medicare and Medicaid are one of important government programs. According to Medicaid.gov site, there are more than 4.6 million low-income seniors enrolled in Medicare and about 8.3 million people that are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. Anyone that enrolled with Medicare and limited income and resources are eligible to get assistance paying for their premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses from Medicaid. Not only does Medicaid cover additional services, but, services covered by both programs are first paid by Medicare with Medicaid in the difference up to the state’s payment limit (Medicaid.gov, 2015) .
The current health care reimbursement system in the United State is not cost effective, and politicians, along with insurance companies, are searching for a new reimbursement model. A new health care arrangement, value based health care, seems to be gaining momentum with help from the biggest piece of health care legislation within the last decade; the Affordable Care Act is pushing the health care system to adopt this arrangement. However, the community of health care providers is attempting to slow the momentum of the value based health care, because they wish to maintain their autonomy under the current fee-for-service reimbursement system (FFS).
Luckily under the new health care reform law, most people will receive help paying for their healthcare premiums and cost-sharing expenses that people with insurance have to pay out of pocket for doctor visits, and prescription medicine. Families and individuals will be able to receive this assistance with incomes between one hundred and four hundred percent of the federal poverty line. One hundred to four hundred percent makes up at about $23,000 to $94,000 a year assume this is for a family of four.
Prior to the PPACA, certain divisions of the medical field made the reach of health care coverage far smaller than it should be. This reach widely affected individuals who have a small pre-existing income and rely on social welfare for many needs, needs such as health care. With this diminutive range of coverage, it makes it difficult for the government to support funding for welfare, and in turn funding for the Department Human Services. Now with the PPACA, this problem has been eradicated, but some still debate whether the act has hurt the economy in an effort to make up for the lack of funds . This has been a matter which has led to many debates and controversial statements, but still no clear decision on the argument has been made.
for Medicare, you must meet certain conditions. A person qualifies if they are 65 years of age
The steady rise of healthcare costs and the ever increasing cost of health insurance premiums are making it harder and harder for employers to pay healthcare premiums for their employees. In the past, it was almost a given that employers picked up the tab for health insurance coverage. The health coverage was usually exceptional with little or no money paid out of pocket by the individual for the insurance premiums. Those appear to be the “good old days”, with fewer and fewer employers shelling out money for health insurance premiums and demanding a larger percentage to be paid by the employee. Other employers are simply unable to financially provide healthcare coverage for their employees and have stopped all together.
What is managed care? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, managed care is “a system of health care in which patients agree to visit only certain doctors and hospitals, and in which the cost of treatment is monitored by a managing company.” Managed care is a variety of techniques designed to reduce the cost of providing health benefits and advance the quality of care. In the United States alone, there are various managed care programs, that are ranged from more restrictive to less restrictive. As stated in the National Institutes of Health, the future of managed care is uncertain. It is enthralling to note that in spite of the advances in healthcare systems, such as our hospital’s ability to provide patients with lower cost, managed
Over the last few decades, various laws have been established with the main purpose of making the system equal and more efficient for all. The U.S. hospital system has become more complex and less efficient due to significant political and monetary interference along with the passage of these laws. The most recent amongst those laws is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into legislation by President Obama in 2010. Various provisions in the ACA includes universal health insurance coverage, significant changes in the payment for health services and changes in the health care organization delivery and workforce policy. Thus, ACA has a significant influence on the current U.S. healthcare system.
For those considering a consumer-driven health care plan, I would recommend that they be active in the management of their own health care in order to remain healthy so that they can prevent chronic conditions that require significant medical services. I would also recommend that for those considering a CDHP, they have the income potential earnings to save money each month either through a health spending and reimbursement plan such as the HSA, FSA or HRA or a regular savings account to have available to cover the cost of the deductibles, co-pays and co-insurances. If the deductible must be paid in full up front, I would recommend that the consumer set up a payment plan with a financial counselor.