A whopping 90% of leaders in health and health care policy believe the Affordable Care Act sets the right course for health reform. As the partisan war continues in Congress 68% of experts favor implementing the law with little or no change.

New reforms under the Affordable Care Act begin to bring to an end some of the worst abuses of the insurance industry. These reforms give Americans new rights and benefits, including helping more children get health coverage, ending lifetime and most annual limits on care, and giving patients access to recommended preventive services without cost-sharing.

These reforms apply to all new health plans, and to many existing health plans as they are renewed. Many other new benefits of the law have already taken effect, including rebate checks for seniors in the Medicare donut hole and tax credits for small businesses.

The survey was conducted independently and Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis comments:

“While health reform very much remains a work in progress, it is heartening to see broad support among health care leaders for the direction laid out in the Affordable Care Act. The law’s major provisions for expanding coverage, creating new methods of payment, and encouraging integration and innovation are supported by leaders from a range of sectors-including academia, care delivery, business, and consumers. That sort of consensus is encouraging indeed.”

Nine percent of professionals believe the health reform law sets the wrong course for the nation, and none said that the health system as it stands now requires no major changes.

More than 80% think it is important or very important to implement state-based health insurance exchanges, the requirement that individuals purchase insurance coverage, and the expansion of Medicaid to cover more lower-income individuals.

In March 2010, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Affordable Care Act, which puts in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that will hold insurance companies more accountable, lower health care costs, guarantee more health care choices, and enhance the quality of health care for all Americans.

Whether a person gets health benefits through work, buys insurance, has a small business and desire to provide health coverage to employees, is on Medicare, or doesn’t currently have insurance, the Affordable Care Act gives ybetter control of your own decisions about your health coverage.

It makes insurance more affordable right away by providing small businesses with a tax credit to provide coverage, and in 2014, by providing tax credits to those who need help in buying insurance, representing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history.

The Affordable Care Act is projected to reduce premium costs for millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today. This could help as many as 32 million Americans who have no health care today receive coverage.

Despite of incredible debate, once the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented, Americans will have access to affordable health coverage.

Health care leaders were asked about their views on new payment methods to curb costs and promote efficiency. Nine of 10 leaders believe that improving care coordination for patients with chronic conditions will be effective.

Other options that received substantial support include permanent increases in Medicare and Medicaid payments to primary care physicians, aligning payment methods and rates across public and private payers, and accelerating the implementation of bundled payment methods.

Few leaders believe allowing consumers to purchase insurance across state lines or expanding the use of health savings accounts will be effective in achieving a high performance health care system.

Source: The Commonwealth Fund

Written by Sy Kraft, B.A.