The politics of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, have been argued constantly since it was signed into law in 2010, but a panel of experts speaking at an Orlando event said some of the effects of the federal overhaul of the nation's health care system have been good while others still need work.
Per the Orlando Business Journal:
The Decoding Health Care event, held Oct. 24 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando Downtown, featured a panel including Ashley Bacot, president of Orlando-based independent insurance agency ProvInsure Inc.; Jason Altmire, senior vice president of public policy, government and community affairs for Jacksonville-based Florida Blue; Jeanetta Lawrence, chief operating officer of Jewett Orthopaedic Clinic PA; and Paul Goldstein, vice president of finance and chief financial officer of Orlando Health.
Economist Sean Snaith moderated the panel, where the panelists discussed key changes that came about as a result of implementation of the Affordable Care Act, as well as how it has affected their own businesses and what's to come in the near future.
Snaith, who teaches at the University of Central Florida's College of Business Administration, also asked the panelists to assign a letter grade for the Affordable Care Act's performance thus far. The panelists gave it an average of C, mostly because some of the changes were too drastic and overwhelming.
Here's a closer look at some of the things the panelists discussed at the event:
- Though the cost of care has risen, it also spurred a look at offering better coordinated care for patients. That means a greater emphasis on workplace wellness and prevention, as opposed to caring for people after they become sick.
- The health care industry is moving toward reporting the outcome of care, which can help better track the quality of care patients can expect from physicians. It's another way to empower patients to seek out the type of care they wish to receive.
- The challenge with reporting outcomes is that available programs aren't streamlined and are redundant, which can be a deterrent to using the systems.
- Some health care providers, like Jewett Orthopaedic, have seen a decrease in patient volume or more people holding off on surgeries because their new plans are confusing to them or don't cover the care they used to receive so they would have to spend more out of pocket. Jewett is working with employers to create more transparency on costs of services to help combat that issue, Lawrence said.
- The new programs are not yet covering the costs of providing services.
- Some employers are trying to offer incentives for employees to invest more into preventative care and wellness, but it is difficult for people to make changes, as ProvInsure's Bacot said. "I'm trying to move from diets to more lifestyle changes and I've got to say that walking by that Entenmann's doughnut is tough."
- Next year, the employer mandate goes into effect, which requires businesses with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees to either provide health insurance for their full-time workers, which could cost an estimated $12,000, or pay a $2,000 penalty and send those employees to search for their own health care coverage through exchanges. Though employer costs would rise, the panelists said those businesses providing insurance don't run the risk of losing good workers to their competitors who do provide employees coverage.
