POLITICAL UPDATE |
EVENTS THIS WEEK |
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Comprehensive health care reform legislation, comprised of the Senate-passed bill, H.R. 3590, and the House reconciliation bill, H.R. 4872, passed both Houses of Congress and were signed into law by President Obama on March 23rd and March 30th, respectively. This capped off a year-long legislative process that had faltered at the beginning of the year and was only able to be passed through parliamentary procedures that avoided a Senate filibuster. The process led a number of provisions to be eliminated from the final package.
In the end, the House and Senate passed these two bills on a partisan basis, with significant numbers of Democrats and no Republicans in both chambers supporting the measure. In addition to dramatically expanding private health insurance coverage, the new law rewrites the rules of insurance, expands Medicaid, and makes numerous Medicare payment and policy changes affecting hospitals, physicians, post-acute care providers, the Part D drug benefit, and the government's ability to fight health care fraud and abuse.
While President Obama and Democrats in the House and Senate have now achieved one of their signature goals, it is not at all clear how the health care reform effort will affect the division of power between the parties at the polls this November. Whatever happens politically in the future, there is no question that the passage of these bills constitute the most significant reforms to the U.S. health care system in history. Many of these provisions take effect this year, with the vast bulk of reforms going into effect in 2014. This will create tremendous pressure on regulatory authorities to implement these complex new programs and policies rapidly, potentially leading to unintended consequences unless stakeholders remain extremely vigilant throughout the regulatory process. | |
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Reform Implementation News ...
- 3/23/10 - HHS/ Treasury/ Labor Request for Insurer Comments: In advance of future rulemaking in 2010, the federal government is inviting comments regarding a new statutory provision that requires health insurance issuers to submit annual reports on medical loss ratios. The notice requesting comments may be found here.
- 4/15/10 - TRICARE Affirmation Act Singed Into Law: In one of the first legislative “fixes” to recently enacted health care reform laws, both houses of Congress has unanimously passed the TRICARE Affirmation Act (H.R. 4887), which ensures that health coverage provided by the Department of Defense would qualify as “minimal essential coverage” that is required under the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law soon. A copy of the legislation may be found here.
- 4/19/10 - Insurer’s Voluntary Early Implementation: WellPoint and UnitedHealth, two of the country’s largest health insurance companies, will allow adult children under age 26 to remain on their parents’ health policy. Although the Affordable Care Act does not require insurers to make these changes until September 23, 2010, the two companies will voluntarily make the change as early as June 1. A Wall Street Journal wire article may be found here. (NOTE: you will need a Wall Street Journal account to access this WSJ story).
- 4/19/10 - Nomination of Dr. Donald Berwick: President Obama has nominated Dr. Donald Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Harvard University to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Improvement, which will take a leading role in implementing health care reform. A New York Times Article may be found here.
- 4/19/10 - HHS Creates Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight: The Department of Health and Human Services has created the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which will be tasked with implementing private insurance reforms, including policies governing state-based exchanges. A copy of the notice creating the new Office may be found here.
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