Category Archive: Health Care Reform
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Health Care Reform in the United States
Based on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the healthcare reform in the US is all set to address and implement the healthcare industry needs of making insurance more effective, reduce the deficits and expanding insurance coverage to all. How successful would this act be is what is attracting apprehensions and worries from many schools of thoughts.
There have been many key drivers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that became a law in March 2010. Focus has primarily been on making health insurance an obligation for all Americans. There are also aims of reducing the budget deficit by $143 billion in the coming decade. Future focus is on guaranteeing issues and eliminating Medicare over-pay that might save another $177 billion. (more…)
Health Care Reform Bill Summary
After what seems like forever, Congress has finally passed a health care reform bill. President Obama’s major goal for the early part of his term seems within reach. The question is, though, what is in this bill? What real changes will people experience as a result of all this wrangling? Or are these all political games with little real impact? Read on for a summary of the actual changes to health care from the new health reform bill.
The most important thing to realize about the reform is that it’s phased in – most of the changes don’t come into play when President Obama signs the bill into law (which is expected to be Tuesday, March 23, 2009). The changes activate over the next decade. Here are the major changes and their impacts.
Health Reform Bill Contents
Before 2011:
* Small businesses get a tax credit to contribute to new health insurance for employees. (more…)
Antitrust Concerns Greatly Affect Healthcare Reform
Basics
The Sherman Act is a key federal law which is comprised of two sections: Section 1, prohibits concerted action which unreasonably restrains competition; and Section 2, generally prohibits monopolies.
For there to be a violation of Section 1, there must be an agreement and it must unreasonably restrain competition. For there to be an agreement, there must be more than one economic unit involved. That is, there can be no such agreement by one economic unit with itself. For example, generally speaking, shareholders in the same corporation are, for antitrust purposes, legally incapable of engaging in illegal concerted action together if they share substantial economic risk. They are generally considered to be part of a single economic unit. Conversely, members of two or more competing economic units, separate professional corporations, for example, may not agree to a whole host of things, because such agreements would violate one or more antitrust laws. (more…)
