A New Era in U.S. Health Care: A Guide to Affordable Care Act Published by Stephen M. Davidson, Boston University School of Management Professor of Health Policy
Boston, Massachusetts (PRWEB) October 28, 2013 -- “A New Era in U.S. Health Care: Critical Next Steps Under the Affordable Care Act” (Stanford University Press, 2013) by Stephen M. Davidson, professor of health policy and management at the Boston University School of Management demystifies for unfamiliar readers the Affordable Care Act and sets an agenda for lawmakers and the health industry.
Davidson provides the history of the problems that created the need to reform the
U. S. health care system and summarizes important provisions of the ACA, noting that while the new law is imperfect, the case for the law’s passage is strong.
Davidson explains why the law should not be repealed and replaced and examines some of the key issues that will determine what the law will actually accomplish as it is implemented in the years ahead:
1. The use of Medicaid to pay for a large part of the expansion of health insurance.
2. The actual implementation of key provisions of the law, as illustrated by the battle over the Medical Loss Ratio.
3. The creation of Health Insurance Exchanges.
4. The creation of positive changes to the delivery of care, as illustrated by a new set of organizations, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).
According to Davidson, the law’s three main goals are: to increase access for the uninsured, to contain costs, and to improve quality.
“The huge demand for coverage since the new Health Insurance Exchanges opened on
October 1 is evidence that the American people value health insurance and want it if they don’t already have it,” said Davidson. “The difficulties accessing some of the sites because of problems with computer software exemplifies the challenges that need to be overcome for the law to achieve its goals. Undoubtedly, the software will be perfected and the Exchanges that have experienced problems will run smoothly. Similar patterns should be expected regarding the law’s other two main objectives, cost containment and quality improvement, and progress in overcoming them will occur in time.”
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Biographical statement:
Stephen M. Davidson, Professor at the Boston University School of Management, has studied the health care system over a career spanning more than 35 years. A New Era in U.S. Health Care: Critical Next Steps Under the Affordable Care Act is his seventh book. Still Broken: Understanding the U. S. Health Care System (2010), also published by Stanford University Press, made the case that the problems facing the U. S. health care system in the first part of the 21st century were serious enough that they required action at the federal level to reform it. In Still Broken, after describing the causes of the problems, Davidson identified elements that a reform plan should include in order to solve them and discussed the politics of health care reform that make it so difficult to actually pass legislation. Davidson’s previous work has included studies of managed care, the relations between physicians and managers in health care organizations, health care quality, and Medicaid and Medicare. Prior to arriving at Boston University in 1985, he taught at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Davidson is a graduate of Swarthmore College, the University of Maryland School of Social Work, and the University of Chicago.
About Boston University School of Management
At Boston University School of Management, we empower brave, agile leaders to harness the power of disruptive change and transform it for the benefit of the world. Our real-world programs prepare students with a foundation in core business skills and insight into the forces transforming the global economy: digital technology, social enterprise and sustainability, and health and life sciences. Founded in 1913, the School offers undergraduate, graduate, executive, and doctoral programs. For more information, visit bu.edu/smg.
Jill Totenberg, Boston University School of Management/ The Totenberg Group, http://management.bu.edu, +1 (212) 704-0352, [email protected]
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