Health care reform: What you can expect from the new law

Description

Abstract: Health care reform … at last. But what does it mean to physician practices? According to one authority, it will place a huge load on physician practices by releasing pent-up demand for health care services from an additional 18 million newly insured people and new Medicaid users. With more patients, physicians in all specialties will have the opportunity to increase their revenues, although some critics maintain that it will redistribute income away from primary care providers and misalign monetary incentives for doctors. This article discusses the impact on Medicare payments, along with incentive payments and cost savings through streamlined health insurance claims processing procedures. Tort reform and the prospects for reform of the sustainable growth rate formula are also explored. A sidebar shows an upside and downside of the legislation as it affects the business side of a practice.