With the election behind us, we now know who the players will be for the next four years. Now we await to see how President-Elect Trump will implement the talking points that got him elected. I for one, hope he does well and will be watching closely as he chooses who will be in his Cabinet and the advisers he surrounds himself with as he transitions to be the 45th President of the United States.
As an ‘outsider’ he will need the advice of thought leaders to assist him in understanding the current status of laws that govern our country as well as the implications of making changes. This is especially true in regard to healthcare.
One of his key talking points from the campaign was the promise to repeal and replace The Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, but many of the pieces of the Act are still being implemented.
I think all would agree that the ACA is not a perfect piece of legislation, but it did accomplish several important goals that are fundamental the welfare of the country. These include:
Helping over 20 million people who did not have healthcare coverage, purchase affordable healthcare covergage.
The Act, took away the challenges that those who had pre-existing conditions faced in obtaining healthcare insurance.
Third, the Act also started to change how healthcare is provided, by helping to put into place strategies that allowed the healthcare to move from a sick system to a system that encouraged prevention, early detection of conditions, and guidelines physicians and others could use to ensure treatment is based on evidenced.
Since the implementation of the ACA, a great deal of work has been done and gains have been made throughout the healthcare system that has slowed escalating healthcare costs and improved the delivery of care. In addition, changes to the reimbursement rules have helped providers and organization refocus strategies to improve the quality of care provided and demonstrate value for the dollar spent. These changes are just starting to produce the results that will allow healthcare to be sustainable for our country.
With the US Healthcare system spending reaching 3 trillion and 17.5% of the GDP there is a call for all stakeholders to demonstrate value for the dollars spent. The implications of making changes that reverse the current path of the ACA will have major repercussions throughout the healthcare system as well as on the US and global economies. It is my hope that the President-elect and his team carefully exam the current law and see what is working and what things in the law can be refined now that we are this far into the implementation of the law.
I will continue to take an active role in following health policy and will continue to share information that all consumers of healthcare can use to understand how these challenges impact them. I ask all readers of Nurse Advocate to stay informed and to use your voice and expertise to educate and empower our President-Elect, our legislative leaders, fellow consumers and all members of the healthcare team as we move forward.
Here is a link of some of the top leaders views on What’s Next: http://patientnavigatortraining.org/whats-next-for-healthcare-after-the-election/
Thank you for reading this post. I look forward to your comments.
Have a good week!
