Volume 7, Issue 5 - Health Care Reform

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) fundamentally shifts the social contract in the U.S., according to Chapin White of the Center for Studying Health System Change.

According to David Cutler of Harvard, a key player in crafting health care reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could turn out to be the most successful piece of health care legislation ever.

Can the health insurance exchanges in the Affordable Care Act substantially improve the functioning and reach of the private health insurance market? They can if executed correctly, according to Mark Duggan of the University of Maryland and Robert Kocher of McKinsey Center for U.S. Health System Reform, who point to new incentives for individuals, employers, and insurers.

Now that we have covered the uninsured, it is time for us to put the priority on health, not health insurance, according to Darius Lakdawalla and Dana Goldman, both of the University of Southern California. The authors argue that benefits to population health are likely to be limited under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

We need to be better informed about the four formidable obstacles facing The Health Care Act (ACA), according to Henry Aaron of the Brookings Institution. Aaron delves into the tough fights that lie ahead for certain sections of the ACA, given the precarious balance of political forces leading up to the 2012 election.

The case that insurance subsidies will improve health is far from compelling, according to Mark Pauly of The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania, and needs to be strengthened if the program is to be politically stable. The time for this conversation is now, argues Pauly.