Planning & Implementation for Healthcare Reform is Like Herding Cats

Image from Mike Moreu
As long as we’re herding cats on healthcare reform, let’s ask a critical question…What is the timing for the changes being made for healthcare reform? Not “when will it get passed” but rather “when will the changes, whatever they end up being, go into effect”?
Logistically, it’s a nightmare.
Healthcare Reform Will NOT be here by January 2010
Employee populations have already been underwritten for 2010. Rates have already been set. Policies are already in place. Open enrollment has already begun. Surely no one would jump in front of that rolling momentum even though the government has the authority to do so. It takes a full year to do all that needs to be done for a health plan when it is business as usual.
[cats like big balls of yarn, and this is a BIG one]
Imagine the implications of just two details…
- Insurers Have to Cover Pre-existing Conditions
- Insurers Cannot Drop Clients with Extreme Expenses.
In short, the very business practices on which insurers, doctors, hospitals and every company that provides health insurance have built their business are undermined. Wow!
[think two wild feral cats left to their own devices in the barnyard]
Insurance companies would be SCRAMBLING…
- to change rates.
- to underwrite to new standards.
- to negotiate new provider agreements
- to develop new policies.
- to train people on the changes.
- to print new materials.
- to engage countless attorneys to understand and interpret changes.
[think of the crazy old cat lady with 72 cats in her one-bedroom 650 square foot apartment]
At the same time, employers would be scrambling to understand and reevaluate their business model as their health plan costs changed. They would be looking to alter their plan in an effort to control their rates and protect their business. They would be struggling to educate their employees. And struggling to meet a bottom line with new rules on one of their single largest line item expenses – health insurance.
[think of the animal shelter stuck with the crazy cat lady's 72 cats - what the hell do we do with these?]
Docs and hospitals and other care providers are little better off. They would have new rules on what is or is not covered. They would be left to figure out how much they could expect in income on those “Good Samaritan” services they had been providing for “free”. They would have new systems and rules to evaluate. Their very business model would shift.
[think of the vet trying to provide services out of the goodness of their heart, but faced with the financial implications of having to spay ALL 72 cats]
Cats would be living with dogs. And January 2010 would be here.
A Similar but Not Related Video that Conveys my Thoughts on This…
Filed under Government, Healthcare, Insurance
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