Health Reform Law Implementation and All That Jazz,  The Chicago Way

Come on, Babe
Why don't we paint the town?
And All That Jazz

Lyrics,  Chicago, The Musical, 1996

April 13, 2012-  As the health care world awaits the Supreme Court decision on the health law in June  and the election results in November,  the Obama administration is pushing ahead to implement the various provisions in the law as fast as it can.

·        It has just announced  27 new organizations, many physician led,  that may become Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs Multiply as Medicare Announces 27 New Ones, April 10, Kaiser Health News).

Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs

Name	Location	Est. Beneficiaries
Accountable Care Coalition of Caldwell County, LLC	Lenoir, NC	5,000
Accountable Care Coalition of Coastal Georgia	Ormond, FL (Serving beneficiaries in GA and SC)	8,000
Accountable Care Coalition of Eastern North Carolina, LLC	New Bern, NC	10,000
Accountable Care Coalition of Greater Athens Georgia	Athens, GA	8,500
Accountable Care Coalition of Mount Kisco, LLC	Mount Kisco, NY	N/A
Accountable Care Coalition of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, LLC	Clearwater, FL (Serving beneficiaries in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area)	7,000
Accountable Care Coalition of the North Country, LLC	Canton, NY	5,300
Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin, LLC	Milwaukee, WI	10,000
Accountable Care Coalition of Texas, Inc.	Houston, TX	70,000
AHS ACO, LLC	Morristown, NJ (Serving beneficiaries in NJ and PA)	50,000
AppleCare Medical ACO, LLC	Buena Park, CA	8,000
Arizona Connected Care, LLC	Tucson, AZ	7,500
Chinese Community Accountable Care Organization	New York, NY	12,000
CIPA Western New York IPA, doing business as Catholic Medical Partners	Buffalo, NY	31,000
Coastal Carolina Quality Care, Inc.	New Bern, NC	11,000
Crystal Run Healthcare ACO, LLC	Middletown, NY (Serving beneficiaries in NY and PA)	10,000
Florida Physicians Trust, LLC	Winter Park, FL	16,500
Hackensack Physician-Hospital Alliance ACO, LLC	Hackensack, NJ (Serving beneficiaries in NJ and NY)	11,000
Jackson Purchase Medical Associates, PSC	Paducah, KY	6,000
Jordan Community ACO	Plymouth, MA	6,000
North Country ACO	Littleton, NH (Serving beneficiaries in NH and VT)	6,000
Optimus Healthcare Partners, LLC	Summit, NJ	29,000
Physicians of Cape Cod ACO Description of Organization	Hyannis, MA	5,000
Premier ACO Physician Network	Lakewood, CA	12,500
Primary Partners, LLC	Clermont, FL	7,500
RGV ACO Health Providers, LLC	Donna, TX	6,000
West Florida ACO, LLC	Trinity, FL	10,000
Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

·        And the Obama administration has diverted $500 million to the IRS to implement the health law.  This money is to be provided outside the normal appropriations process.  The IRS is responsible for enforcing key provisions  of the law,  including the individual mandate; collecting new fees and taxes on drug companies,  device makers,  and health plans;  and making sure state health exchanges provide the subsidies for low income people who cannot afford to pay for insurance; and in general, implementing the Medicaid mandate, which could also go down with the Surpreme Court decision.

Never mind the opposition. The Chicago way is to push aside, ignore, or discredit anything or anyone who gets in the way related in any way to the health care law.

Tweet:  The Obama administration is pushing ahead to implement key provisions of the health law even through the Supreme Court may turn it down.