Healthcare Reform: A Curveball for Health Plans
Report Summary
Healthcare Reform: A Curveball for Health Plans
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, costly for health plans to implement, will eventually deliver rewards.
Boston, MA, July 19, 2010 – A new report from Aite Group highlights the known requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and provides insight into the areas health plans must address (from product, process, and technology perspectives) by 2014. The report outlines those requirements that will affect multiple areas of health plans, and helps health plans assess their readiness to incorporate these changes.
Healthcare reform has proven to be a curveball, catching many stakeholders in the healthcare industry off-guard and ill-prepared. Though details of PPACA are still being finalized, health plans are expected to experience the most significant changes among industry players. As a result, health plans have already begun to address certain known requirements based on PPACA guidelines for major affected areas of business.
Due to the necessary initial investment of time, money, and resources required for compliance, Aite Group expects health plans to experience little or no short-term benefits from healthcare reform. In time, however, increased focus on plan configuration, product pricing, marketing, and program management will lead to increased market share from the currently uninsured population.
“The passage of PPACA will force the healthcare industry, heretofore reluctant to make bold changes, to modernize systems and procedures and update product offerings to suit the needs of today’s consumers,” says Kunal Pandya, senior analyst with Aite Group and author of this report. “By focusing on necessary requirements, health plans will eventually see returns on their initial investments and reap rewards, such as increased market share, enhanced cost containment, and improved interoperability between products, processes, and lines of business.”
This 15-page Impact Note contains five figures. Clients of Aite Group's Health Insurance service can download the report.