It was the best of times and the worst of times… An appropriate intro for a blog about Health Care Reform! Obviously, it depends on what side of the debate you favor. Regardless, the heavily publicized and much debated process of Healthcare Reform is now down to two bills: Senate vs. House.
The current favorite is the Senate bill. The Kaiser Foundation provides a very succinct side-by-side comparison of these two bills (Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and House’s Affordable Health Care for America Act). While both bills are geared towards expanding the number of insureds either through subsidy or due to individual mandate – neither bill actually addresses how to manage the costs associated to adding on about 50 million uninsured individuals. It’s the quintessential 900lb Gorilla in the room… Where is the money coming from?
Logically, most employers have to be wondering how or if this will affect their bottom line. At this time, it’s difficult to predict how these changes will affect employers. As the Senate bill is currently written, some components start in 2010 while others will be implemented over the next 4 to 6 years and will vary on the size of the business.
Over the next several weeks, I intend on keeping my blog up to date in order to keep my readers informed. As well as including the most innovative strategies that will make adopting these mandates a smooth process. In the meantime, there is one strategy that will hold true no matter the new mandates… Market innovation that includes consumerism, wellness, safety and benefit education combined with proactive planning will still prevail in cost control.
Mike Wojcik 