Impact of Affordable Care Act on Health Care Reimbursement - Assignment Example

Affordable Care Act Affordable Care Act It is a law that was endorsed by US president in which improved the health care system of the United States. It emphasizes on lower health care 11cost, creating accountability in insurance firms, and quality health care among others. Impact of Affordable Care Act on health care reimbursement ACA impacts include: Sudden increase in patient population, payers is supposed to cover much more than before, easier money tracing method, and changing in care and payment models Issues that health care will face if there is free accessibility to all Americans. Free health care accessibility will lead to increase in demand of Healthcare workforce to meet the increased demand, thereby leading to a shortage of medical professionals. It leads to a strain on the health facilities. There will be a rapid increase in population, thus the number of old aged people will multiply thereby resulting in extra cost. Measuring of access to healthcare Measured by Interviewing patients about how easy is it for them to obtain healthcare services, by assessing the utilization of the healthcare services and lastly structuralwherebypresence or absences of healthcare facilitating resources are assessed. Value for measuring access to healthcare It assists the state to ascertain the success of the program, identify new areas where improvements have to be done, fulfill contractual parameters and improve with the support of healthcare programs. Healthcare costs It is the actual cost attached to the provision of services associated with healthcare delivery, including medications, procedures, and therapies costs. Three different meanings of the term cost The term cost may refer to the amount of money spent by a company in the production or creation of goods and services. Cost may also refer to the amount of money which is spent in production of good or product. Another meaning of cost is the total amount of money that the seller sets for a product which includes both cost of production and the added cost to make the profit. Quality measures Quality measures are tools that track and measure the quality of healthcare services offered by eligible hospitals and professionals within the healthcare system. These tools use the data obtained from the healthcare provider’s ability to offer service. However, quality measures impact health care through measuring various aspects of patient such as health outcomes, patient safety, population and population health, clinical processes, and among others. Facts about medical tourism There are several facts about medical tourism. First, medical tourism has been around for thousands of years. Second, there are 458 International hospitals in the Joint Commission around the world. Thirdly, one may spend less time at a hospital and a lot of time at the hotel during a medical trip. The fourth fact is that one’s companion can make a medical trip successful or can break it. Advantages of Medical Tourism It is cost saving. Also, it enables patients to receive high standard medical care not provided at their home countries. It also provides patients with an easy access to immediate medical care with less or zero time. Disadvantages of Medical Tourism Language and cultural barriers are disadvantageous to medical tourists. The legal permits and paperwork can be very demanding. Misinformation about the kind of treatments and their equivalent costs can destroy the whole objective of medical vacation. The future of healthcare delivery, insurance compensation and reimbursement technologies, laws, and legislation Healthcare delivery The health care delivery seems to face multiple forces that leave them vulnerable to changes over the next decade. These forces come as a result of the current economic and regulatory environment. Therefore, since health systems and hospitals must adopt to this environment, they need to change in order to blend. Insurance compensation and reimbursement technologies The insurance compensation and reimbursement technologies in the future will change dramatically. There will be the disappearance of the reimbursement based upon payment of service. It will be replaced by the one based upon the quality of service delivery. There has been an evolution of health care insurance services overtime. In the past, health care insurance was only known to be provided by the government. With time, private hospitalization insurance emerged with the aim of making profits. This has negatively affected healthcare reimbursements. The private hospitalization has made it difficult for the government to take control of the situation. Formation of several models such as Accountable Care Organizations has also led to the creation of new regulations that have influenced the healthcare reimbursements to change. Laws Changes in the healthcare delivery laws are improving the health of people each and every day. Referring to the current patient protection and affordable care act called the ObamaCare, there are a lot of benefits experienced. The law has enhanced access to care where millions of American people can acquire insurance coverage. In addition, the Act has strengthened the healthcare infrastructures and workforce; it has protected consumers nationwide; and has led to lowering of health care costs. Legislation In future American people will experience an essential transformation in the insurance system relating to their health. The healthcare delivery law will provide new options for Americans who lack insurance. It will also bring new protections to those people who buy health plans for themselves. Organization responsible for ACOs ACOs are under the Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Participation requirements of ACOs They must be accountable for the cost, quality and overall care of service beneficiaries Medicare fee assigned to it. The minimum rate of saving introduced by the “Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services” must be met by the ACOs. Minimum quality standards performance must also be met. ACOs which are under the operation of the two-sided model which meet to be above the least loss rate should share losses together with the Medicare program. It should be a legal entity. How ACOs will create a revolution in healthcare They will lead to adoption of electronic health records, therefore a better system of quality measure. The cost of healthcare will go down. Quality Care Safety in the health sector is a paramount importance in guaranteeing patients’ safety and workers wellbeing. Incidences such as disruptive behaviors and workplace violence hinder delivery of quality care. What improvement would you suggest to the President of the United States for the next five years? There are a number of improvements that the President of the United States can focus on when implementing healthcare laws of any kind in the next five years. The first one is coming up with healthcare Acts that encourage good relationship between the patients and health experts. The act should always clear the notion that patients are consumers and that the healthcare sector is a market mechanism. The second one is developing healthcare Acts that encourage health insurance companies to maximize medical services delivery rather than income. The other one is developing a Medicare program meant for improving the health of old and disabled people who cannot afford proper healthcare services. The last one is coming up with a fair Healthcare Act that promotes the equal distribution of healthcare benefits. In most cases, rural America is adversely affected by understaffed medical workforce and is usually not enrolled for portable care at homes. In addition, residents in rural America are entitled to pay higher premiums. Work Cited Bromley, Kaya. The Employers Guide to Obamacare: What Profitable Business Owners Know About the Affordable Care Act. North Charleston: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014. Print. Read More