Health Insurance Articles
The Most Significant Health Reform Challenges Of 2012
2011-11-08
The Affordable Care Act was put into place by President Obama in 2009. Since then, there have been various projects and changes put into place to try and make health care more affordable for the masses. There are various health reform challenges that will be faced in 2012 because of the economy and the scheduled changes for the Act.
There is a time line of the Affordable Care Act with things taking place each year. The first changes took place in 2009 and the majority of them will be done in 2014. Between now and then, further changes are scheduled to take place which prove to be a little problematic for many different reasons.
One of the first is that the Act calls for standardized billing using electronic methods. Many different industries have already switched to electronic coding and filing; however, the health care industry still keeps many things on paper. The medical billing is getting more and more advanced to help reduce mistakes. The problem is that it takes a lot of additional training which many offices and hospitals cannot afford.
As a result of this additional training, it is expected that shortcuts will take place. Whenever there are shortcuts, there are also mistakes. As a result, medical bills could be submitted with wrong amounts which can cause insurance companies to underpay or deny the claims. This slows down offices and hospitals being paid on time. When they aren't paid, they don't have the funds to stay afloat which can work against the health care industry.
Another of the health reform challenges for 2012 is the economy. While the economy is starting to turn around, it's not generating as many jobs as everyone thought it would. As a result, there are still many people who are unemployed or unable to afford health insurance. The people who can't afford insurance are going into hospitals where free care is provided.
The free care comes at a price to those with health insurance because medical fees are raised to try and make up the difference somewhere. It then becomes a vicious cycle of the medical industry raising costs and the government trying to lower them.
Another issue with health reform is the presidential elections in the latter half of 2012. There are many candidates who wish to get rid of the Affordable Care Act altogether and make their own changes that have more immediate and noticeable results.
If Congress repeals the Act, there is no telling what the outcome of health care in the United States will be. Every candidate has a different opinion, so the challenges will continue to grow throughout 2012.
