Government Health Reform Grades

Can Washington D.C. make the grade?

Title of government document

1)       Budget

Running 45% in 2014 over estimated budget of  $984 billion in 2010. Cost may reach $2.7 trillion by 2020-2025.  “Savings” from cuts to hospitals, physicians, Medicare, accountable care organizations, and health plans yet to be realized.

Grade:  D-

2)       Healthcare.gov  cost and performance

 $634 million, with “fix,” is likely to exceed $700 million.  Performance is  poor to inadequate to “promising” (saith the government).

Grade: D

3)       Access

·         Medicaid may expand by  30 million to 50 million and beyond.

·         Loss of health plans by employers to spouses, retirees, and plan cancellations, total number lost unknown, now 10 million, may reach 50 million or more in 2015.

             Grade:   C-

4)       Quality

                 In eye of beholder, employers, patients, physicians,    government officials. 

                 Effect: Negligible to negative to potentially positive (saith the government).

            Grade:  C- to C+ 

5)       Effect of Regulations, Fines, Penalties, Taxes on Business, cumulatively amounting to $500 million, on economy.

“Drag” on economic growth, innovation, investment, and spike in costs of hiring of full-time workers and providing coverage for them.

Grade:  D+

6)       Effect on Physicians and Hospitals

Less revenue, loss of productivity, more compliance costs, decline of time for patients, more overhead, more calls for coordination, more consolidation, exodus from practice, from seeing Medicaid and Medicare patients, and physician shortages.

Grade: C-

7)       Public Acceptance and Approval

Negative from onset, with current approval ratings from 37% to 43% and disapproval ratings from 47% to 58% with 55% favoring repeal.

Grade:  D+ to C-

8)       Final Grade – I (Indeterminate) to P (Provisional,  Pending, or Problematic)

Tweet:  By these criteria – budget, healthcare.gov, access, quality, effect on economy, providers, and public,  Obamacare isn't making  the grade.