In Next Evolution of Healthcare, Will Quality Remain a Focus?
Healthcare Organizations Consider Impact on Care Following Trump’s Election
By Megan Headley
Although there remain many unknowns about the impact President-elect Donald Trump will have on U.S. healthcare, one change seems certain: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) as we know it will face significant changes, if it is not repealed altogether. Healthcare delivery, which has changed rapidly since President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law in 2010, will continue to evolve.
As Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association (AHA), commented in a statement issued on the election, “Millions of Americans have exercised one of our most fundamental rights—the right to vote and elect our leaders—and the result of [this] historic election will shape national policies for years to come. With the election now behind us, we must pivot from politics to governance.”
Healthcare professionals of every type are watching for signs of how this governance will impact the way they provide care in the years to come.
One legacy of the ACA has been its focus on moving from volume-based to value-based healthcare. The AHA, among other organizations, is urging the incoming administration to continue that focus with any replacement reform it seeks to instate.
“Amid the changing political landscape, our priorities [must] remain the same: advancing the transformation of healthcare, ensuring access to coverage, preserving adequate resources for healthcare, protecting patient access to care, enhancing the quality of care and patient safety, and making healthcare more affordable,” Pollack said. “It’s why we work in a bipartisan manner in advancing our agenda. Because better health and healthier communities are goals everyone can support.”
The question now is which of the president-elect’s programs promised during his campaign will find their way into law.
Reducing gaps in coverage
Following the election, a number of organizations have urged President-elect Trump to consider keeping, in some form, portions of the ACA that have brought welcome change to the nation’s healthcare system. One of the law’s biggest benefits has been the coverage it’s provided to millions of previously uninsured individuals.
As the Catholic Health Association (CHA) commented in a statement issued on the election, “Our current president and even ardent supporters of the ACA have said that it can and must be improved, but it is an undeniable fact that for millions it remains the first time they have had health insurance and healthcare access. Because healthcare is so critical to the well-being of individuals and the country, we must exercise great care in making changes.
“We have missed the opportunity to make the ACA work as optimally as possible for our country because it unfortunately was one of the most politicized programs in our history. This election has confirmed that we must get beyond this pattern and begin focusing on the people’s business,” the statement concludes.