Health Care Reform

Health Care Reform resources at the AAFP
Questions and answers about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are available on a new web page from the AAFP.

Find out how the new legislation will affect PCPs, the practice of medicine, physician payment, family physicians as small business owners, academic family medicine, and patients.
Click here now to read more.

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Health Care Reform: How and When? - 3/22/2010
Yesterday evening the U.S. House of Representatives held the last vote to pass the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

The bill, although not perfect, may be the first step to improving the American health system.  Most of the reforms in the bill will be rolled out incrementally in the next five years, though some pieces of the statute will be implemented in the closer future.

This health care reform bill is not a complete package. We are still awaiting a permanent fix to the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate formula and medical malpractice reform.  Family physicians know the current American health system is complex and true reform will not be complete with this bill. The Academy will maintain its vigilance overseeing the roll out of this act and ensuring Congress returns to finish what was missed.

Positive Impacts of Health Care Reform to Family Physicians and the Family Physician workforce
Effective 2010 there will be financial support for the development of training programs that focus on primary care models such a medical homes and team management of chronic diseases.  There is also an immediate reauthorization of Title 7 which provides funds for the training of family physicians.

Effective 2011-2015 Medicare will provide a 10% bonus will be paid to primary care physicians who practice in health professional shortage areas.

And, effective 2014 Medicaid coverage will be expanded to all with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level. On the same time line as the expansion of Medicaid coverage, Medicaid payments will increase to Medicare rates for primary care services provided only by primary care physicians. It is pivotal that this section of the health care reform bill be implemented; otherwise newly insured Medicaid patients will be unable to find physicians to take them, the Academy is watching this provision carefully.

Positive Impacts of Health Care Reform to your Patients
Effective 90 days after enactment a national high risk pool to provide health coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions will be implemented. The pool will last until 2014, in 2014 the prohibition of pre-existing condition exclusions goes into effect for all individual and group health plans.

Effective 6 months after enactment health plans will no longer be able to rescind coverage except in cases of fraud, and pre-existing conditions for children will be prohibited.  New individual and group plans will no longer have lifetime limits; however existing plans will be grandfathered in until 2014 when their lifetime limits must be eliminated.