Monday, October 27, 2014

Is The Affordable Care Act Working?

Brian Klepper

The New York Times has published a major, multi-article piece, on different aspects of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) performance. Here's the overview:

"After a year fully in place, the Affordable Care Act has largely succeeded in delivering on President Obama’s main promises, an analysis by a team of reporters and data researchers shows. But it has also fallen short in some ways and given rise to a powerful conservative backlash."

The article poses and then responds to seven big questions, based on data gathered from many sources.
  1. Has the percentage of uninsured people been reduced?
  2. Has insurance under the law been affordable?
  3. Did the Affordable Care Act improve health outcomes?
  4. Will the online exchanges work better this year than last?
  5. Has the health care industry been hurt or helped by the law?
  6. How has the expansion of Medicaid fared?
  7. Has the law contributed to a slowdown in health care spending?
Because the law is so politically polarized and charged, this objective status update is a welcome contribution to the discussion. Group health care purchasers have so much riding on the law, so this is a particularly worthwhile read.

Those of you attending the NBCH Annual Conference's first day will hear Bob Laszewski's take on the law's rollout. Mr. Laszewski is a former health insurance executive and a highly regarded independent analyst who has tracked each step of the law's formulation and execution.

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