Although it has been quite a while since the Federal Government announced a series of far-reaching healthcare reforms, we are yet to experience their full impact across the healthcare continuum. And, with the Senate bill deferring a major chunk of the reforms further, it is expected that we may have to wait as late as 2014 to witness their full impact.
Amongst a string of reforms that will take effect from 2014 are the ones emanating from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will bring immediate benefits to millions of Americans, including those who currently have coverage. the continuum showflat The following benefits will be available in the first year after enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:
Access to affordable coverage for the uninsured with pre-existing conditions, which means the act will provide $5 billion in immediate federal support for a new program to provide affordable coverage to uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions
Re-insurance for Retiree Health Benefit Plans, wherein the act will create immediate access to re-insurance for employer health plans providing coverage for early retirees. This re-insurance will help protect coverage while reducing premiums for employers and retirees
Closing the Coverage Gap in the Medicare (Part D) Drug Benefit, under which the act will reduce the size of the “donut hole” by raising the ceiling on the initial coverage period by $500. There would also be guarantee of 50 percent price discounts on brand-name drugs and biologics purchased by low and middle-income beneficiaries in the coverage gap
Extension of dependent coverage for young adults, wherein act requires insurers to permit children to stay on family policies until age 26
Coupled with this set of reforms, which are believed to improve physicians’ revenues, there are also reforms that are likely to test their ability to practice delay-and-denial-free reimbursement practices:
The Accountable Care Organization Model, which requires physicians to realign their practices in congruence with Medicare incentive framework
The ghost of Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) fix, which threatens to substantially erode physicians’ share of Medicare reimbursements
Last but not the least, the radical ICD-10 and HIPAA 5010 compliant clinical and coding practices, which, though indispensable to reduce healthcare fraud and abuse, are going to force medical practices into a more stringent reimbursement environment than ever
While the impact of the ensuing healthcare reforms are going to be felt across the whole healthcare continuum, the continuum floor plan it is the medical billing practices that would be most affected. Therefore, it is going to be crucial that medical billers and coders respond with highest degree of professional dynamism to mitigate the chances of physicians’ medical claims running the risk of denial or delay. When one thinks of the possible areas that medical billers and coders would be addressing post 2014, the following come up to the fore.