Regardless of where you stand on the issue, implementation of the Affordable Care Act is coming, and the reality is it will have an impact on businesses—large and small.
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce led a strategy session for its members to help make implementation less burdensome.
Business leaders, health professionals, and lawmakers are reviewing hundreds of initiatives to provide better healthcare at lower costs. Newly appointed federal Administrator for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Marilyn Tavenner, outlined the pros and cons of the ACA, which she says should help with expenses.
"And there's a lot in the Affordable Care Act that deals with costs. Is it perfect? No. Does it need further work and modification? Certainly."
Her second issue is access.
"And for better or worse we believe that until everyone has some form of insurance or coverage there's going to be hidden costs that we can't control."
The third is the problem of quality:
"And despite having really, really strong health systems and really, really strong economy in many ways, if you look at our outcome data and compare it to the world, we still are struggling."
Tavenner says ultimately, the ACA has brought attention to a long-term problem, which it’s trying to mitigate. She adds that over the last three years, the U.S. has seen the lowest healthcare cost growth in recent memory.
