Megapolis Insurance

There is no doubt that doctors are among those most affected by health care reform in the United States. The proposed changes to the infrastructure of the medical system and health insurance affect not only their businesses and salaries, but the way that they can prescribe, diagnose and treat their patients. In the March 2011 edition of The American Journal of Medicine are four published articles written by doctors who voice their concerns about the current state of health care and the proposed and implemented changes to the system.

“The 800-Pound Gorilla in the Healthcare Living Room”
This editorial article was written by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief Dr. Joseph Alpert. He argues that the new health care reform did nothing to address tort reform, which he refers to as the “800-pound gorilla.” Tort reform is the proposed change in the legal system which could potentially limit the amount of frivolous and expensive lawsuits brought against the health care community. Some argue that the constant pressure of potential lawsuits is what drives many providers to order unnecessary testing and procedure. This ex

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When House Republicans voted Friday to block funding for health care reform implementation (see below), it was with the knowledge that most Americans disapprove of the tactic. A new CBS News poll shows 55 percent of Americans disapprove of the defunding effort while just 35 percent support it. The poll also shows, however, that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) continues to be unpopular overall. Just 21 percent think the law will make the health care system better while 23 percent believe it will make things worse. Perhaps most interesting of all is that 44 percent are unsure of what the law does, and they don’t know enough to say what the impact will be. The results seem to suggest the law has gained no traction with the populace in the past year but that voters have a keen sense of fair play in how the issue is addressed.

Federal To keep the government operating for fiscal year 2011 (September 2010 through September 2011), Congress has been passing a series of continuing resolutions (CR) that continue the funding for a set period of time. T

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By any measure, last week was a big one for the future of individual health insurance reform. It started with a federal judge in Florida ruling the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) unconstitutional. Just two days later the U.S. Senate, unlike the House, voted down an effort to repeal the not-quite-one-year-old law. But a vote in the North Carolina House last week illustrates that the states will be just as important a battleground for health care reform over the next couple of years. North Carolina House members voted to try to block the requirement that citizens buy health insurance coverage. And, Florida has announced it will cease implementation of the health care law until the lawsuits are decided — likely by the U.S. Supreme Court. The process of refining or even reshaping federal health care reform is likely to go on for years. <

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Health insurance reform will inevitably add to the already unsustainable federal deficit. In addition, it will prove impossible for the government to create and establish a more efficient system than the one now in place.

These are some of the arguments of more than a dozen states that have filed lawsuits. The lawsuits challenge the constitutionality of the reform. Their arguments also include that the government should not force citizens to buy health insurance.

It will be several years before the reforms take effect, and opponents are trying to ensure that they never will.

But significant improvements have already been made and insurers are also moving into compliance ahead of schedule. New rules forbid insurance companies from denying coverage to children, young adults can now stay on their guardians’ policies until age 26, and setting a lifetime limit on benefits will be banned soon.

Let’s not forget the true objective and that is to reduce costs. The Obama administration  must demonstrate that reforms will eventually bring down costs. This is the true test.