Health Care Reform Simplified, 2nd Edition

11/19/2012 · No Responses

Health Care Reform Simplified: What Professionals in Medicine, Government, Insurance, and Business Need to Know describes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the individual mandate and other key parts of the law—what must busy healthcare professionals, insurance industry professionals, business and HR managers, and policymakers do?

First, read this book. It translates the law’s complex language into terms that are easy to understand, explaining what the new law does, when its provisions take effect, and how to implement it. This brand-new second edition also updates all the provisions and explains the myriad ways the ACA is already being put into practice.

Health Care Reform Simplified, Second Edition, outlines the financial impact of the law and how it affects businesses, insurers, hospitals and doctors, and state and local governments. Most important, this book gives consumers and employers critical information for making informed choices about new options for private and public health insurance coverage. It also describes how the law interacts with Medicare and Medicaid. Finally, it looks at the potential roadblocks—political, judicial, and economic—that may yet derail some of the provisions. But with more than half of the Act’s provisions in force already, and the Supreme Court’s landmark decision upholding the law, there is no time to lose in understanding how the legislation affects you whether you are a consumer or deliverer of health care in the U.S. This book:

Explains health reform in easy-to-understand terms
Shows how the law is playing out in the real world
Explains the ways the law or parts of it yet may be repealed by the 2012 election and the implications for readers
Provides HR professionals and managers options for covering employees while explaining costs and benefits
Details the impact on medical professionals and insurers and steps they must take now to comply with the law
Shows policymakers the way forward now that legal challenges have abated

This edition, completely updated to incorporate the newest regulations and the practices that have been put into place in various states, will prove an indispensable guide for those implementing the law, as well as those receiving health care, in the coming years.

What you’ll learn

The provisions of the health care law, updated to take into account new regulatory guidelines, as well as models and processes developed at the state level.
Options for families and individuals, and how to decide whether to keep existing insurance, switch to a different plan, or get new coverage at an exchange or co-op
New government subsidies and tax breaks for health care, and who qualifies for them
What government agencies, insurers, and healthcare providers must do to comply with the law
Options for businesses, and how employers can decide whether to keep existing plans, purchase plans through exchanges, or provide vouchers to employees
The impact of health care reform on hospitals, doctors, insurers, and patient care
The potential for a new Congress with a new President to repeal provisions of the law

Who this book is for
Health Care Reform Simplified: What Professionals in Medicine, Government, Insurance, and Business Need to Know is an excellent resource for managers who make decisions about insurance coverage for employees, healthcare professionals and those working in the insurance industry who must understand and comply with the law’s provisions, and policymakers who must implement the law at the state and local level. Individuals wondering about such things as the “individual mandate” will also find the book a useful overview of the changes that have occurred and those yet to come.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. History of Health Care in the U.S.
Chapter 2. Early Changes
Chapter 3. New Personal Insurance Options
Chapter 4. Insurance Options for Businesses
Chapter 5. Changes in Insurance Market Rules, Regulations
Chapter 6. Changes to Medical Practices
Chapter 7. Medicare Outlook
Chapter 8. Medicaid Outlook
Chapter 9. Communicating Changes to the Public
Chapter 10. The Cost and Who Pays
Chapter 11. Efforts to Repeal Reform