Stakeholders See Health Law Benefits, Challenges
News outlets explore issues emerging from the health law's implementation, including how the costs of insuring full-time employees could be a boon for temporary staffing agencies, how nurse practitioners are seeking a greater role in primary care and how some clinics are fighting to benefit from the law's changes.
Kaiser Health News: Temp Agencies See Opportunity In Health Law
The rush to implement the Affordable Care Act, which is generating billions for insurers, hospitals and technology vendors, also looks like a boon for staffing companies, whose share prices have soared. But some suggest that exceptions for temporary employees could leave holes in the health law's expanded coverage (Hancock, 3/26).
Marketplace: The Nurse Practitioner Will See You Now
It can be tough to see a primary care physician today. Just wait till next year when another 30 million patients or so get insurance under Obamacare. "We need all hands on deck. We need more family physicians. We need more primary care nurse practitioners, we need more physicians assistants…we need pharmacists. Everyone with a focus on the patient," says Dr. Wanda Filer, a physician in York, Penn., and board member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The nation is facing a shortage of primary care physicians. Estimates range from several thousand today to 52,000 by 2050. Annual spending on primary care is approximately $200 billion (Gorenstein, 3/25).
HealthyCal: Feminist Clinic Fights To Be Included In Health Care Reform
As millions of Californians are projected to gain coverage over the next several years, the independent clinics that have traditionally served the uninsured are in for some big changes. Soon, many more low-income patients are expected to have private insurance, following the roll out of the Affordable Care Act’s signature reforms in 2014. That’s putting some clinics, like those in the Women’s Health Specialists network, in a quandary. They want to be a part of the system that’s creating a boon of paying patients – but in a way that allows them to hold onto their guiding principles (Bartos, 3/26).
The Hill: Study: Health Law Has Imposed 111 Million Hours Of Paperwork
In its first three years, President Obama's healthcare law has imposed more than $30 billion in costs and 111 million hours of paperwork burdens, according to a new study from the American Action Forum. The forum, a conservative think tank led by former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said the law will raise premiums and hurt small businesses (Baker, 3/25).
The Hill: GOP Lawmaker Wary Of Voter Registration Questions In Obama Health Law Forms
A Republican lawmaker is concerned about voter registration questions buried in a draft application to receive benefits under President Obama's healthcare law. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), who leads a House subcommittee on oversight, said the questions' placement could lead some to believe that voter registration is tied to eligibility for the law's insurance exchanges (Viebeck, 3/25).
Meanwhile, the New York Times looks at how employers are using worker’s health care premiums on incentives programs -
The New York Times: Companies Get Strict On Health Of Workers
Employers are increasingly trying to lower health care costs by using incentives to persuade workers to make better lifestyle choices, a new survey shows, but what remains less clear is whether a reward is better than a punishment — or whether the programs work at all (Thomas, 3/25).
