It really doesn’t matter who the next President is. The fact is that the Affordable Care Act will have to go under some major overhaul. The costs are skyrocketing more then they have in the past. Patients access to medical providers have been restricted. Insurance companies have responded to Obamacare by either pulling out of the market places,limiting network accessibility, raising out of pocket costs and other maneuvers to limit their losses. Over half of the co-op market places that were set up around the country have closed their doors due to the unexpected high cost of insuring individuals and small groups. The latest fatality was Land of Lincoln in Illinois which struggled the last year despite a major increase in enrollment. Published reports suggest that the Federal government didn’t deliver the the funds that were originally promised to offset the enrollment of high cost users of the health system.Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Congress has switched from Blue to Red. Republicans control the budget and there has been little attention given to fixing the issues that come with any new system as large as ACA. The White House and other agencies have tried to fix things through administrative fixes but have been limited by the Republican control House and Senate. While the Republicans have tried repeatedly to repeal Obamacare, they have not offered an alternative that the American people believe is a solution to the chaos.
Regardless of who the next President becomes and what party controls Congress there will have to be a major overhaul of the current system. Things to look for:
Employer mandate eliminated or scaled back
The additional paperwork requirement for employers to be reduced
The guaranteed issue (during open enrollment period) to remain
Competition across the State, although contrary to popular belief will have little effect of costs
Expansion of public health systems
Larger tax breaks for health insurers
Higher Medicare tax on employers and employees and
Lowering the eligibility age of Medicare recipients
A lot of changes are coming and they will be coming very fast
Everyone is watching the Presidential race, word to the wise watch the over 450 seats up in Congress that is what really matters
Tim Elenz
Telenz@Benefitsage.com
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