ACOs: What are they, and why do they
cause such headaches?

A new term has entered the health care lexicon recently: ACOs, otherwise
known as accountable care organizations. They are experimental Medicare programs
whose goal, like that of most other ObamaCare ideas, is to direct how health
markets are run (since experts can do so better than consumers making decisions
for themselves). Also like many pieces of the ObamaCare puzzle, however,
research shows great failures and concerns about them,
and they are receiving push back from consumers who believe they are best
suited to make personal decisions for themselves.

In theory, ACOs are great. Their purpose is to improve communication between
care providers to increase quality and access to care and decrease
inefficiencies and errors. Unfortunately, when the federal government imposes heavy
regulations to impede a free market, the arena in which these organizations
operate fills with perverse incentives and the idea
crashes and burns. This process has been so obvious in the last few weeks that the
Obama administration has been forced to "re-launch" its efforts to
convince the public that ACOs will create quality care with lower costs.

As is becoming customary, the Obama administration trotted out a spokesman
from CMS to assert to the public that ACOs "are
not just a new way to pay for care. They are a new model for the organization
and delivery of care," only to admit later that substantial federal
regulations will most likely hinder their effectiveness.

Updates on Federal Health Insurance
Exchange

Health insurance
exchanges have been a hot topic in North Carolina and around the country as
legislative sessions draw to a close. Although most agree that setting up an
exchange would be counterproductive for states who oppose the new health care
reform law, many fear what the federal alternative will look like and so have
begun the process just in case the law is not ruled unconstitutional.

Last week it was announced that the first federal regulation regarding
exchanges would be released this week. The title of this proposed
regulation is "Requirements to Implement American Health Benefit Exchanges
and Other Provisions of the Affordable Care Act."

A better working title might be something like "Rules We Just Made Up and
Other Shenanigans." Nevertheless, we eagerly await the new regulations to
see what a federally approved exchange would look like and if states would have
as much to fear as previously thought.

Ironically, the proposed regulation is not expected to address important issues
such as what benefits are even required, leaving many to wonder what the point
of the regulation is.

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