Secretary Tom Price explains the American Health Care Act and other reform initiatives

Secretary Tom Price Explains American Health Care Act

On the eve of the house vote on the Trump Administration’s proposed health care law, the American Health Care Act of 2017 – H.R. 1628, HHS Secretary Tom Price appeared on Fox News on March 22, 2017 on Tucker Carlson Tonight.  According to Price:

A. The American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) is not just the AHCA, it’s the Act plus other programs and reforms. The reforms Secretary Price referenced were:

  1. insurance across state lines,
  2. medical malpractice reform

and other programs.  So, according to the Secretary taken together costs will go down and choices will increase significantly. 

B. Secretary Price focused on choices in shopping for insurance, but not improving shopping for care and pricing for care: Secretary Price said,

“Every single American otta have access to the kind of coverage they want for themselves, not what the government forces them to buy and that’s the key.”

C. My Observation: If Americans can shop for insurance coverage but don’t have an active stake in choosing the quality of care, the type of care and the cost of care, I wonder if the AHCA will deliver the Trump Administration’s promised results.

Related Posts:
Dual Eligible for Medicare, Medicaid come under fire 
Rand Paul: Affordable Care Act Under Trump Administration “Legalize Low Cost Insurance” 
Expert Witness

Section 1333 – Provisions relating to Offering of Plans in than One State is already a component of the ACA which required the Secretary of HHS to issue regulations for the creation of health care choice compacts under which two or more States may enter into an agreement…” However, regulations for interstate health care choice compacts between states were never issued.   Apparently, the Obama Administration never consulted the National Association for Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). See the Palm Beach Post Selling health insurance across state lines – it’s already legal under Obamacare published March 18, 2017.

 

According to Chad Terhune with Keiser Health News in an article published in The Washington Post, “Top Republicans say a medical malpractice crisis is threatening U.S. health care: Frivolous lawsuits are driving up malpractice insurance premiums and forcing physicians out of business. Doctors and hospitals live in fear of litigation, ordering excessive tests and treatments that make health care unaffordable for Americans. That’s why House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), tapped to be the nation’s top health official by President-elect Donald Trump, are vowing to make tort reform a key part of their replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act.”

 

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Michael F. Arrigo

Michael is Managing Partner & CEO of No World Borders, a leading healthcare management and IT consulting firm. He serves as an expert witness in Federal and State Court and was recently ruled as an expert by a 9th Circuit Federal Judge. He serves as a patent expert witness on intellectual property disputes, both as a Technical Expert and a Damages expert. His vision for the firm is to continue acquisition of skills and technology that support the intersection of clinical data and administrative health data where the eligibility for medically necessary care is determined. He leads a team that provides litigation consulting as well as advisory regarding medical coding, medical billing, medical bill review and HIPAA Privacy and Security best practices for healthcare clients, Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records. He advises legal teams as an expert witness in HIPAA Privacy and Security, medical coding and billing and usual and customary cost of care, the Affordable Care Act and benefits enrollment, white collar crime, False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback, Stark Law, physician compensation, Insurance bad faith, payor-provider disputes, ERISA plan-third-party administrator disputes, third-party liability, and the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSPA) MMSEA Section 111 reporting. He uses these skills in disputes regarding the valuation of pharmaceuticals and drug costs and in the review and audit of pain management and opioid prescribers under state Standards and the Controlled Substances Act. He consults to venture capital and private equity firms on mHealth, Cloud Computing in Healthcare, and Software as a Service. He advises ERISA self-insured employers on cost of care and regulations. Arrigo was recently retained by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding a significant false claims act investigation. He has provided opinions on over $1 billion in health care claims and due diligence on over $8 billion in healthcare mergers and acquisitions. Education: UC Irvine - Economics and Computer Science, University of Southern California - Business, studies at Stanford Medical School - Biomedical Informatics, studies at Harvard Medical School - Bioethics. Trained in over 10 medical specialties in medical billing and coding. Trained by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and PTAB Judges on patent statutes, rules and case law (as a non-attorney to better advise clients on Technical and Damages aspects of patent construction and claims). Mr. Arrigo has been interviewed quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and National Public Radio, Fortune, KNX 1070 Radio, Kaiser Health News, NBC Television News, The Capitol Forum and other media outlets. See https://www.noworldborders.com/news/ and https://www.noworldborders.com/clients/ for more about the company.