2010 Overview in Medical System (I)

Healthcare Reimbursement

Delayed several times in 2010, most recently on December 9 until January 2012, the Medicare pay cut would be triggered by the sustainable growth rate formula used for setting physicians' pay. It could force many physicians to stop seeing new Medicare patients or to drop out of the Medicare program entirely, which would send shockwaves throughout the system. For 70% of physicians, Medicare patients make up about a third of their practices.
For more information: Healthcare Reform Resource Center

Healthcare Reform

The most comprehensive overhaul of the nation's healthcare system at least since Medicare, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) seeks to dramatically expand the number of people who can afford healthcare. It does that by subsidizing the cost for those who can't afford it, penalizing those who refuse to buy it, and limiting the cases in which insurers can deny coverage. Among scores of other provisions, it boosts pay for primary care physicians, encourages compensation based on quality of care, and bars copayments for most preventive services. Ongoing lawsuits about the individual mandate to buy health insurance mean the ACA will likely end up before the Supreme Court.
For more information: Healthcare Reform Resource Center