Title: The ACA Five- Years Later
1The ACA Five- Years LaterAn Update on Health
Care Reform
- Al Heuer, PhD, MBA, RRT, RPFT
- Professor Program Director
- Rutgers School of Health Related Professions
2Learning Objectives
- Summarize Key Facts about Our Health Care System
- Review the History Legislative Process of
Health Care Reform - Summarize the Some Major Features of the Law.
- Describe the Reality of Its Impact on
- Us as Clinicians and Consumers
- Health Care Organizations
- Review Future Implications
- Furnish Additional Resources
3US Health Care SystemThe Best the Worst
- Strengths
- Strong Investment in Technology Research
- Safety Net for Elderly, Disabled Disadvantaged.
- Weaknesses
- Cost
- In 2010. 47 mil. (16) of Americans were
Uninsured - Unequal access to care
- Uneven clinical outcomes
- Health catastrophes are leading cause of U.S.
bankruptcies. - Inefficient use of services
- ER as primary care
- Futile CareWe dont know how to say no mas!
4Health Care Systems of Other Countries
- US Health Care cost twice that of other developed
countries approximates 6th largest national GDP.
- Universal Health Care - Canada-national public
policy provides disincentives for using private
health insurance. - National Health Care-England-National Health
Service founded in 1948. Co-lateral private
health insurance is allowed. - Germany spends approx. 10 of its GDP on
Health Care 5-6 for many European countries
5Initial Attempts at Reform
- FDR wanted national health care to be included in
the 1935 Social Security Act. - President Truman attempted to initiate a national
health care insurance program. - Was on Jimmy Carters agenda.
- 1993 Hillary Clinton Ultimately unsuccessful,
largely due to insurance industry opposition.
6Contentious Political Process for This Law
- President Obamas 2010 budget set aside 600
Billion for Health Care reform. - July 15, 2009 - Senate Health Committee passes
its bill. - August/Sept. - White House loses control of the
debate. - November 2009 - Dems introduce new Senate bill,
including an increased payroll tax on the
wealthy. - December 2009 - 25 day debate in the Senate.
- February 2010 - Bi-Partisan summit with Obama.
- March 2010 - To avoid a Senate Republican
filibuster, House passes the Senate version with
sidecar of fixes. - Final Votes House 228-207 Senate 56-43.
- Signed into Law March 23, 2010. (974 pages long)
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8Features of the Bill Impact Many Stakeholders
9Initial Features of the Bill - Individuals
- Mandates that all Americans have Health
Insurance. - Creates Health Insurance Exchanges for
- Uninsured
- Self-employed
- Subsidies for low-income individuals/families
(133 to 400 of the poverty level). - Expands Medicaid coverage.
- Prescription Donut Hole Rebate, Fills some of
the limits for prescriptions under Medicare.
10Initial Features of the Bill - Individuals (cont.)
- Must cover preventative care, including checks
ups with no deductible. - Asthma management
- Smoking cessation
- Coverage for adults with pre-existing conditions.
- Young adults can continue on parents plan until
age 26. - Mandated Coverage Penalty of 695/Indiv. in
2016.
11Features of the Bill - Small Businesses
- Creates similar exchanges for small-medium sized
businesses. - Small Business tax Credits 50 of health ins.
premiums applied as credits for businesses with
less than 50 employees. - Companies with 50 or more employees must cover
95 of full-time employees by 2016.
12Initial Features of the Bill - Insurance Companies
- End of Rescissions-Insurance Cos cant cut
someone when he/she gets sick. - Insurance Company Transparency-Must reveal amount
spent on overhead. - Higher loss-ratio requirements (now 85) for
insurance companies to take advantage of tax
benefits. - Customer Appeals-Any new plan must implement an
appeal process for coverage determinations and
claims. - 40 tax on insurance companies offering Cadillac
H.I. Plans.
13Initial Features of the Bill Hospitals
Doctors Practices
- Decreases Medicare coverage but Temporarily
increased reimbursements for general practice
physicians/surgeons. - Medicare payt protections extended to rural
hospitals.
14Value over VolumePay-For-Performance (P4P)
- ACA Re-Emphasizes Emerging Themes
15What Does Value over Volume Mean to an RT?
- Old Philosophy If a patient stays on a
ventilator longer or has a stay, thats is good
for our Job Security! - New Philosophy - Fewer Vent Days, shorter LOS
and Happier patients are Rewarded! - How does this work?
16The Answer The ACAs Value-Based Purchasing
Provision
- Value Based Purchasing Program (VBP)
- Begin to pay hospitals for their actual
performance - Requires a portion of Medicare reimbursement to
be withheld and returned in proportion to how the
Hospital performs, Initially in 3, Now in 4
Categories.
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18Soooo, VBP Can Reward Clinicians for Contributing
to Better Outcomes!
- Patient weans off ventilator sooner.
- Shorter LOS.
- Better clinical outcome and happier patient means
higher VBP performance. - Better VBP performance means more reimbursement
to the hospital. - More reimbursement means more for resources,
including staff, equipment
19ACA created the HRRP, which will reduce
Medicare payment rates for hospitals with higher
than expected readmission rates for specific
conditions.
- Another Form of Pay-for Performance The
Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP)
20Conditions Covered Under HRRP
- Initial 2013 Conditions
- Acute Myocardial
- Infarction (AMI)
- Heart Failure
- Pneumonia
- 2015 Expansion
- COPD
- Coronary Bypass Surgery-
- Coronary Angioplasty
- Other Vascular Conditions
21Shhh! Dont Say Frequent Flyer!, HRRP Rewards
Less Frequent Flying and Heres How!
- Patient is admitted but gets enrolled in a
Re-admission Reduction Protocol - Patient gets educated about their condition and
the importance of adhering to their Tx. plan. - Potential barrier to successful discharge are
addressed and post discharge follow-up done. - Patient stays out of the hospital.
- Better HRRP performance means more
reimbursement to the hospital. - More reimbursement means more for resources,
including staff, equipment, etc.
22Changing ReimbursementPay-For-Performance
Payment Reform for Hospitals
Fiscal Year Value Based Purchasing Hospital Readmission Reduction Program Hospital Acquired Conditions Total
2013 1.00 1.00 0 2.00
2014 1.25 2.00 0 3.25
2015 1.50 3.00 1.00 5.50
2016 1.75 3.00 1.00 5.75
2017 2.00 3.00 1.00 6.00
.
Alexander, K.,LHA Legislative regulatory
Update. LA Assn for Healthcare Quality Annual
Education Conference, April 2012
232013 (Interim) Reimbursement PenaltiesThe Facts
- 2,211 American hospitals received reimbursement
penalties for high readmission rates - Together they will forfeit about 280 million in
Medicare funds over next year - According to Medicare, 2 out of 3 hospitals
evaluated failed to meet its new standards for
preventing 30 day readmissions. - Hence, more hospitals lost than gained.
24Five years Later-- Public Remains Divided on ACA
- Late June 2015
- Favorable 43
- Unfavorable 40
25Other Realities -- ACA--Five Years Later Health
Ins. Coverage
- 15 million Fewer uninsured individuals since 2010
- But, 35 million Individuals still without
insurance - Most gains are from expanded Medicaid expansion
- 12 million More people enrolled in Medicaid since
2010.
26Health Ins. Coverage - Reality
- 5.8 million people gained coverage in the
individual market. - 4.9 million individuals lost employer coverage
during the same period. - In other words, for that period in which raw
data are available, almost 90 of coverage gains
were in the Medicaid program.
27- Fewer Adults Without Health
- Insurance
28Why do we Care About Medicaid Expansion???
- Positive
- More Americans are Covered!!!
- All adults up to 133 of the FPL will gain
Medicaid coverage. - Should promote healthier life styles--Example
- Starting in 2014, Medicaid programs that provide
prescription drugs must cover tobacco cessation
medications. - Those who are low-income and uninsured are more
likely to use tobacco. - These enrollees will now have access to six
cessation counseling sessions a year. - Negative
- Possible Influx of Insureds with poor health.
- Incentives to Primary Care Physicians to
Accept Medicaid are running out. - Cost of expanded Medicaid passed onto tax
payers? -
29ACAPositives Five Years Later - Individuals
- 2.3 million young adults gained coverage from
2010 through Sept. 2013 by staying on their
parents' plan. - 11 million Individuals have insurance through a
state or federal exchanges. - 7.7 million Individuals receiving tax subsidies
for coverage through an exchange.
30ACANegatives Five Years Later - Individuals
- 900,000 Americans individual or
employer-sponsored health policies were cancelled
for 2015 because they did not comply with the
ACA. - Individual Premiums have increased dramatically.
- 1 in 2 Number of American households eligible for
a premium subsidy in 2014, paid some money back
to the government in 2015 because of income
changes - 794 Estimated average payment these households
will owe the government in 2015.
31ACA--Five Years Later Large Corporations
- Group Health Insurance Premiums have Skyrocketed.
- Corporations with 50 Employees must provide
Health Insurance to 95 of emplyees - Both of the Above have caused Corporations to
- Be cautious in hiring
- If they do hire, keeping hours below 30/wk.
- Sent more job overseas
- Future uncertainties have curbed other forms of
corporate spending
32Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)
- In section 2706 3022 of the ACA
- An ACO is a network of physicians, hospitals, and
other health providers that collaborate to
improve care and reduce costs for Medicare
participants. - The ACA, created a shared savings program,
providing incentive payments for improving
quality and reducing cost. - A Pioneer ACO--one which has experience in
coordinating care across settings.
33Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)- The 2014
Results
- 97 ACOs qualified to share in savings by meeting
quality and cost benchmarks earned a total
shared savings of more than 422 mil. - The results indicate ACOs improve over time 37
percent of the ACOs that launched in 2012
generated shared savings - compared to 27 in 2013
- and 19 in 2014.
- ACOs also improved on quality compared to 2013.
ACOs that reported in both preceding years showed
improvement in 27 out of the 33 quality measures - Clinician-patient communication
- Patient ratings of physicians
- Tobacco Blood Pressure Screening
- EHR use
- 4. The program is still receiving strong
interest and CMS plans to announce new and
renewing ACOs.
34ACOs-Why Should you Care?
- May explain increased emphasis on
interprofessional collaboration between and among
disciplines/care settings. - Better coordination better outcomes.
- If your organization is receiving shared savings,
theres more for staffing, supplies, equip.
education. - Can counteract reductions elsewhere, from VBP,
Short-term Re-admit penalties, and reimburse.
reductions.
35Meaningful Use the ACA
- Health Care Organizations receive incentives and
beginning in 2015 penalties for demonstrating
that they are meaningfully using Electronic
Health Records (EHRs). - Meaningful Use was Actually Created by the Health
Information Technology for Economic Clinical
Health (HITECH) Act (2009), not the ACA. - Grants and other incentives are in the ACA to
promote health information technology
enhancements.
36EHRs Meaningful Use
- Stage 1 -- 2011-2012
- Electronic capturing of health info.
- Initial reporting of clinical quality measures.
- Using information to Track Clinical Conditions.
- Stage 2 2014
- Increased requirements for e-prescribing and
incorporating lab results. - Electronic transmission of patient care summaries
across multiple settings - Stage 3 2016
- Improving quality, safety, and efficiency,
leading to improved health. - Patient access to self-management tools.
37Meaningful Use Financial Incentives
- Through 2014, 44K-66K per physician in
financial incentives meeting the criteria. - Approx. 50-60 of health care facilities fail to
show that they are using the system in a
meaningful way - Penalties for Failing to Demonstrate Meaningful
Use - 2015 2016 -- 1-2 reimb. penalty
- 2017-- 3 reimb. penalty
- 2018 -- 4
- 2019 -- 5
1-2 reimb. penalty
38Meaningful Use Why Should Clinicians Care?
- Explains changes to Elec. Health Records (EHR)
and Computer Physician Order Entry (CPOE) at your
institution. - If you organization is receiving Incentives (or
avoiding penalties), they will have more for
staffing, equip - May have a positive Impact of other Measures
Patient Satisfaction - Can counteract reductions elsewhere (e.g., VBP,
S/T Re-admit penalties, etc.
39Meaningful Use Why Else Should Clinicians Care?
- Meaningful Use (Stage 3) promotes Telemedicine
and Digital Resource Development and other
similar - Stage 3 Criteria Outcomes for Improving
quality, safety, and efficiency, leading to
improved health outcomes. - Applications in Respiratory Care
- Virtual Pulmonary Rehabilitation Progs.
- Digital Disease ManagementCOPD, Asthma
- Computerized Educational Resources
- Care Plan Compliance Monitoring
- Smoking Cessation Aids
40Original ProjectionsPaying for the Plan
- Increased Medicare Tax for Singles earning gt
200K and Couples gt 250K. (Beginning 2013) - From 1.45 to 2.35 on earned income
- New 3.8 tax on interest, capital gains.
- W-2 reporting of employer H.I. Premium value.
- Will this lead to future taxing of those
benefits? - Reductions for Medical Expense Itemization.
- From expenses over 7.5 earned income to over
10 earned income. - Medicare Reductions.
41Original Claims -- The ACA Would be A Deficit
Reducer
- Actually President and congress claims it will!
- OMB estimates savings of 138 Billion over 1st 10
years 1.2 Trillion over next 10 years. - Reality is Appearing Different.
42Reality--Paying for the Bill
- Reality
- Consumers have experienced sharp, double-digit
premium increases, combined with breathtaking
increases in their deductibles. - The law locks in massive entitlement spending,
last estimated at 1.7 trillion over the next 10
years. - Exchanges are 21.5 less competitive (offer few
choices)
- Claim
- Health reform would reduce the typical family's
healthcare costs by 2,500 a year - The law is a deficit reducer.
- Health Exchanges will increase competition and
lower premiums
43Other Looming Concerns
- Many provisions didnt activate until 2013-15.
- Little to no mention of Tort Reform, governing
Med-Mal Lawsuits. - Some only apply to new insurance companies.
- Originally was to tax cosmetic surgery, but due
to apparent lobbying efforts, will tax tanning
shops instead.
44The Future of the ACA?
- U.S. House of Representatives has voted 50 times
to repeal the entire law. - Public remains divided on law.
- President Obama works to shore up his legacy.
- Will ACA be a 2016 presidential campaign issue?
45Take Home Notes
- There are many facets to the Health Care Reform
and the ACA. - The public remain relatively uninformed.
- Pluses
- Increased the number of those with insurance
- More emphasis on prevention/community care.
- Coverage for pre-existing conditions.
- Big Minuses Cost and No Public Option.
- Changes/amendments are Likely.
- Get informedKeep informed!
46Selected Resources
- http//www.healthreform.gov
- https//www.cms.gov/cciio/resources/Fact-Sheets-an
d-FAQs/index.html - http//www.whitehouse.gov/issues/health-care
- http//voices.washingtonpost.com/health-care-refor
m - http//www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/health/policy/23
health.html - Longest, BB Health Policymaking in the US ed 5,
2009