Tag: Trumpcare

What Pain will You Experience if the AHCA Bill Becomes Law? | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

  • Health insurance lost for 24 million U.S. consumers
  • Billions of dollars of care investment marginalized
  • Providers’ margins eroded by payers
  • And a five-year setback to the healthcare system

These are potential side effects if the U.S. House of Representatives- approved American Health Care Act (AHCA) bill becomes a law. Let’s look at the impact the law would have on the key constituencies.

Healthcare providers

With the most needy (the sick and the elderly) portion of the population left uninsured, the healthcare providers will once again be expected to foot a large part of their healthcare bills due to lack of coverage, non-payments, use of ER services, etc.

Healthcare consumers

With premium increases, credits/subsidies being based on age instead of income level, and states’ ability to change or waive pre-existing health condition coverage, a large percentage of older, lower income, and infirmed consumers would likely opt out of having coverage altogether. Young and healthy people would have less incentive to get insurance coverage.

Healthcare payers

The overall theme of the bill would result in a significant decline in volume of work managed by payers. That said, there would be numerous key operational implications for both private and government payers including:

  • Product development: Payers would end up having state specific plans, leading to increased administrative work around plan design and development activities. This would likely have a cascading effect on downstream processes (policy servicing, network and care management, and claims management) which are expected to become more complex and specialized.
  • Claims: Claims volume would likely dwindle, particularly among the old and ill, as a large percentage would have opted out of coverage.
  • Policy servicing: Payers would likely experience a significant uptick in queries from patients and providers, as uncertainty around topics such as eligibility, verification, and premium collection amplifies. However, demand for certain processes, such as HIX support, would likely be sluggish.
  • Care and network management: Care management programs would likely take a backseat, given their significant cost to enrollees and providers. Additionally, companies that had invested heavily in such programs could see decline in their ROI. Lower patient volumes might drive payers to tighten their provider network, leading to less work around network management activities.
  • Government (Medicaid): Reduced federal spend on Medicaid would likely push states towards a modular approach, and maybe even a shift towards a managed care construct.

With a decline in volume of work, it might not be surprising to see some of the larger payers insource certain processes.

The Healthcare IT and BPO service providers

A lesser volume of work across various value-chain segments would translate into lower revenue for third-party vendors. In fact, even though a law hasn’t yet been enacted, the healthcare business in some of the key players, such as Accenture and Cognizant, is already growing at a slower rate than their overall company growth rate. This impact could extend to the overall outsourcing industry. On the other hand, if states decided to exercise the power granted to them differently, service providers could also expect to see increase in the complexity of work around certain functions such as policy servicing and claims management.

Additionally, the ratified law might just be the impetus that mid-to-large buyers without GICs need to opt for bundled IT and BPO deals, which were traditionally a feature of mid-sized buyers.

Of course, the above-mentioned implications are for the bill in its current form. However, moderate Republican senators might well make massive changes to it, especially after the public outrage over certain parts of the bill.

It is going to be tough time of uncertainty for all stakeholders until a law – in whatever shape and form – is passed. In the meantime, payers and healthcare providers need to work closely with their respective service providers to ensure they stay afloat and come out on the right side of fence when the dust settles.
For a detailed analysis comparing the AHCA and ACA, please see our report titled: Acing Uncertainties in the Payer Market: The Trump Cards.

Looking Beyond the Hype – Healthcare in the Trump Era | Sherpas in Blue Shirts

Healthcare is one of the principal areas facing upheaval after Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential win last week. Beyond being a major socioeconomic issue (it does consume close to 20 percent of the U.S.’ GDP, which is ~2x that of any other developed country), it is also President Obama’s key legacy given his championing of the reform through the Affordable Care Act (ACA, dubbed Obamacare). Broadly, Trump’s proposed healthcare plan is likely to feature the following changes:

  • Partial repeal of the ACA (complete repeal is more likely to be political posturing)
  • More decentralization of public healthcare spending
  • Ceasing Medicaid expansion and changes to funding
  • Medicare reform
  • Broad implementation of free market principles to let “animal spirits” prevail
  • Prescription drug reform
  • Increased push for price transparency
  • Use of Health Savings Accounts (HSA), and allowing states to regulate health insurance
  • Ability to purchase insurance across state lines
  • Allowing premium deductions on  tax returns

Here’s how the cards stack up

Trumpcare

The good…

Commercial payers
Any kind of partial repeal or change to the ACA will actually be in line with what leading commercial payers have stated, given how broken and unviable the current HIX model is. Most C-suite execs indicate that such a repeal will make health insurance companies more competitive and more influential. This should bode well for large national payers such as Aetna, Cigna, and UHG, which have been bleeding money. This could provide a spurt to discretionary spend, which had seen a pause following mega mergers in the industry, Department of Justice injunction, and HIX losses. At a broader level, the Trump camp has proposed “following free market principles and working together to create sound public policy…” Some early reactions are calling this a welcome change that will allow free enterprise back into healthcare, and let patients, not government agencies, manage their health.

Medicaid-focused payers (states and managed care organizations)
Another key element will be the decentralization of healthcare, as Trump’s plan focuses on giving more Medicaid and other public spending power to states. Combined with the modularity mandate, (essentially breaking down state’s Medicaid Management Information Systems into smaller reusable components,) this is likely to give state health departments more bargaining power as prices decrease and competition – which in the MMIS market has been restricted to players such as CNSI, CSRA, HP, Molina Information Systems, and Xerox – intensifies. Also, managed care organizations (MCO) will benefit from the continuing shift away from state Medicaid.

Consumers
Trump has also recommended that Congress break down state barriers to allow insurance companies to offer plans in any state, as long as the plans are in compliance with state requirements. This should increase choices for consumers, and result in more competition. However, such an environment has not found much favor with payers struggling to manage the risk on their books, and will likely not find much with the challenge of entering new markets.

Life sciences firms
Most pharma and biotech stocks have soared in the past week, driven by Trump’s lukewarm stance on price regulation, as compared to Hilary Clinton’s more hawkish position on drug price reforms. Throughout her campaign, Clinton repeatedly vowed to limit the power of drug manufacturers, and suggested introducing monetary penalties to punish price gouging. The industry’s much maligned tax inversion practices have also ranked rather low on the president-elect’s agenda.

The not so good…

ACA
Despite the political posturing in the run-up to November 8, Trump/the GOP is unlikely to be able to fully repeal the ACA. It’s more likely that they will pursue a partial repeal through the budget reconciliation process, which allows bills related to spending and revenue to be passed by a simple majority, without being subject to a potential filibuster. Trump is likely to sign a bill similar to the one GOP lawmakers passed earlier this year as a counter-measure to the “failings of Obamacare/ACA.” Broad-based changes are likely to be equally, if not more, unpopular than the perceived problems with the ACA. Most of the market has invested considerable resources in reinventing their fundamental business models, and rolling back the clock is not really an option. The market will be forced into a period of uncertainty as stakeholders evaluate options amidst upheaval. While HIX plans have been value-dilutive for most payers, some such as Molina have made it work as a viable business model. However, the movements toward value-based care won’t be affected as the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and other reform tenets will continue it.

Consumers
Repeal of the Individual mandate may result in truncated consumer choices for coverage of pre-existing conditions, premium hikes due to reduced competition, and limited-benefit plans.

Medicaid
Any repeal would likely include the elimination of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, insurance subsidies, individual and employer mandates, and several taxes that help fund the law, effective two years after the bill’s passage (this was vetoed by President Obama after the House and Senate earlier this year passed a partial ACA repeal bill through the reconciliation process.) Depending on how block grants play out, providers could experience a shortfall in government spending, and may need to rebalance their exposure to commercial payers.

Medicare
If the current GOP plan to transition it to a premium-support plan continues, there is likely to be a rise in financial uncertainty as payers’ reimbursements get linked to average versus submitted bids. This will further sharpen the focus on payers’ cost efficiency and optimization efforts to manage business models.

… and the uncertain

In most of these scenarios, we can only make an educated guess about what the Trump era means for healthcare. The next few months will be crucial in setting the tone for the changes to come – leadership appointments, policy moves, etc. The ACA seems to be the most contentious piece, and likely the first to be tackled by the administration. However, Trump’s public posturing will need to contextualized with the complexities of the legislative process to fully assess the material impact.

We would love to hear your views on how this will play out.

How can we engage?

Please let us know how we can help you on your journey.

Contact Us

"*" indicates required fields

Please review our Privacy Notice and check the box below to consent to the use of Personal Data that you provide.