Joseph Rugg's Health Law Blog

Since the Supreme Court pronounced the Affordable Care Act constitutional, the local media have presented a balanced account for what this means to all stakeholders. I must admit I delayed my own education on this topic until the Supreme Court acted.

As a physician, my focus is on caring for people, with little energy left over for policy and politics. However, witnessing the public angst over this law compels me to speak out.

So far, most of the media coverage has centered on the payment methods for this law, the individual mandate, the expansion of Medicaid and the implementation of health insurance exchanges. What I hear from patients though are mostly poorly informed opinions and vaguely articulated fears. These concerns are all fueled by political agendas and rhetoric.

While the strategy for insuring those without health insurance may not be perfect, it is a smart, logical place to start. As with everything, we learn as we go, and I have yet to hear of any reasonable alternative. What has gone completely under-reported has been the Affordable Care Act’s strategy for improving the quality of health care in our country.

The opening line of the executive summary of the Report to Congress, March 2011 reads, “The Affordable Care Act seeks to increase access to high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.” It goes on to outline its three broad aims of focus: better care for the individual, the community, and making it all more affordable. It then sets the specific early priorities and strategies for pulling this off.

Now, how do we argue with those goals? Enthusiasm and momentum for quality improvement in health care in our region has been building for years. The Affordable Care Act as well as the involvement of many local people and organizations are accelerating this agenda.

Read more from this Tulsa World article.

For an aggregation of other articles on Hot Topics in Healthcare Law, go to my magazine on Scoop.it – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law and Regulation and my newspaper on Paper.li – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law.