Health Care Reform Simplified describes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. It translates the law’s complex language into terms that are easy to understand, explaining what the new law does, when its provisions take effect, and how to plan for individual, family, and business health coverage. This book outlines the financial impact of the law and how it affects businesses, insurers, hospitals, and doctors. Most important, this book gives consumers and employers the critical information for making informed choices about new options for private and public health insurance coverage. It also describes how the law interacts with Medicare and Medicaid. Finally, it looks at the potential roadblocks—political and judicial, as well as economic—that may derail some of the provisions. But with nearly half the Act's provisions in force already, there is no time to lose in understanding how this legislation affects U.S. health care providers and consumers today. Explains health reform in easy-to-understand terms Provides guidance on options for anyone buying health insurance, whether for family or employees Details the impact on businesses, medical professionals, and insurers Charts the potential impact of political opposition to the act Explains who will pay for reform and where the cost savings lie—under both best and worst scenarios

This text is a comprehensive treatment of all aspects of group insurance in the United States and Canada. It addresses life and health insurance as well as government programs and more specialized forms of insurance. Emphasis is placed on the actuarial aspects of this important field of insurance including pricing, regulation, underwriting, financial reporting, and modeling. Since its original publication in 1992, Group Insurance has become the resource of choice for experts as well as beginners. It is an essential tool for anyone who wishes to practice in the group benefits field. The Sixth Edition has been updated for the industry and regulatory changes which have occurred since 2007. Of particular note is the impact that healthcare reform in the United States will have on all facets of this topic.

Healthcare economics is a topic of increasing importance due to the substantial changes that are expected to radically alter the way Americans obtain and finance healthcare. Understanding Healthcare Economics, 2nd Edition provides an evidence-based framework to help practitioners comprehend the changes already underway in our nation’s healthcare system. It presents important economic facts and explains the economic concepts needed to understand the implications of these facts. It also summarizes the results of recent empirical studies on access, cost, and quality problems in today’s healthcare system. The material is presented in two sections. Section 1 focuses on the healthcare access, cost and quality issues that create pressures for change in health policy. The first edition was completed just as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was debated and passed. This new edition updates the information about access, cost, and quality issues. It also discusses the pressure for change that led to the passage of the PPACA, evidence that shaped the construction of the act, evidence on the impacts of the PPACA, and evidence on the pressures for future changes. Section 2 focuses on changes that are underway including: changes in the Medicare payment system; new types of healthcare delivery organizations such as ACOs and patient-centered medical homes. It also discusses the current efforts to help patients build health such as wellness programs and disease management programs. And finally, health information technology will be discussed. The new edition will maintain the current structure; however each chapter will be updated to discuss post-PPACA evidence on each type of type. In addition to the updates previously mentioned, the authors will present a series of data explorations to several chapters. Most of the new data explorations present summarized statistical information based on de-identified data from one hospital electronic data system. These data explorations serve two purposes. First, they illustrate the impacts of the pressures for change – and some of the changes – on healthcare providers. For example, the data illustrates the financial impact of pre-PPACA uncompensated care. Second, explanation of the data will require explanations of standard coding systems that are used nationwide (DRGs, CPT, ICD) codes. Other data explorations provide detail about other sources of data useful for health policy analysis, and for healthcare providers and insurers.

"Health Care Ethics and the Law bridges research and practice, reflecting real-world knowledge of the health industry and government agencies. It covers basic ethical principles and practical applications of ethics and the law in the world of health care delivery and practice"--

In this long-awaited updated edition of his groundbreaking work Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis, renowned healthcare economist John Goodman ("father" of Health Savings Accounts) analyzes America's ongoing healthcare fiasco—including, for this edition, the failed promises of Obamacare. Goodman then provides what many critics of our healthcare system neglect: solutions. And not a moment too soon. Americans are entangled in a system with perverse incentives that raise costs, reduce quality, and make care less accessible. It's not just patients that need liberation from this labyrinth of confusion—it's doctors, businessmen, and institutions as well. Read this new work and discover: why no one sees a real price for anything: no patient, no doctor, no employer, no employee; how Obamacare's perverse incentives cause insurance companies to seek to attract the healthy and avoid the sick; why having a preexisting condition is actually WORSE under Obamacare than it was before—despite rosy political promises to the contrary; why emergency-room traffic and long waits for care have actually increased under Obamacare; how Medicaid expansion spends new money insuring healthy, single adults, while doing nothing for the developmentally disabled who languish on waiting lists and children who aren't getting the pediatric care they need; how the market for medical care COULD be as efficient and consumer-friendly as the market for cell phone repair... and what it would take to make that happen; how to create centers of medical excellence, which compete to meet the needs of the chronically ill; and much, much more... Thoroughly researched, clearly written, and decidedly humane in its concern for the health of all Americans, John Goodman has written the healthcare book to read to understand today's healthcare crisis. His proposed solutions are bold, crucial, and most importantly, caring. Healthcare is complex. But this book isn't. It's clear, it's satisfying, and it's refreshingly human. If you read even one book about healthcare policy in America, this is the one to read.

The message of this extraordinary election [in November 2010] is clear enough: the American citizenry has rejected the secular dogma, socialist policies, and machine-driven politics that comprise the Obama agenda. Now, the question is whether President Obama and his Democratic Party will accept the will of the people and change the destructive course upon which they have set this country. . . . [F]irst and foremost, Republicans must fight to dislodge the secular-socialist machine whose methods and goals are described in this book. This machine has driven America so deeply into debt, and has so fundamentally changed the relationship between the American citizenry and our government, that our childrenâ??s future is now imperiled. We cannot assume that after the 2010 election, the machine will simply accept the will of the people. After all, the very purpose of a political machine is to thwart the will of the people.