Health care policies have the capability to change how consumer costs are affecting patients. There have been many federal and state legislations for health care policies that have been put into place in order to benefit all Americans. For example, accountable care organizations also known as ACO’s are organizations that are responsible for taking care of all patients in Medicare. This organization's goals are to increase access, improve efficiency of our health care, and to make changes that will improve consumer costs. Some policies of the ACO go hand in hand with consumer directed health care. We know that health care costs are high compared to the quality of care that is provided and this is affecting all consumers. Consumer directed health care advocates for consumers Saying that controlling costs will improve quality and give consumers incentives to properly manage their own health and not be scared of hidden costs in regards to their treatment. For example, “The Bush administration has proposed making premiums tax-deductible for individuals purchasing HSA plans to bolster the nongroup market for consumer-directed policies and to expand coverage. Further, some policy experts have called for making all health spending tax-deductible, to reduce incentives to elect traditional employer-provided health insurance with generous up-front coverage.” (Buntin, M, 2006, paragraph 3) Plans like these allow for a positive impact on reducing consumer costs which in turn benefits patients and increases patient desire to seek treatment because this year of paying in excess is alleviated.
The most common type of federal and state policies in order to improve consumer costs usually revolve around reducing deductible costs in health insurance. But, federal deficit reduction strategies clash with reducing deductible rates because of federal budget cutting. This is a negative impact that federal legislation has on consumer costs. When the federal budget is reduced it is a given that health care costs will rise for patients as they will have to pay more out of pocket, this is something that will overall turn patients away from seeking health care and treatment. That being said, federal and state policies can be made to have either a positive or negative affect on consumer costs which is the same as having a positive or negative affect on our patients. This is why it is important to make sure that policies are made after much deliberation so that our patients don't suffer.
Reference
Buntin, M. B., Damberg, C., Haviland, A., Kapur, K., Lurie, N., McDevitt, R., & Marquis, M. S. (2006). Consumer-Directed Health Care: Early Evidence About Effects On Cost And Quality: Although evidence is limited, early indications are that consumer-directed plans are having a moderating effect on costs and cost increases. Health Affairs, 25(Suppl1), W516-W530.
Larrat, E. P., Marcoux, R. M., & Vogenberg, F. R. (2012). Impact of federal and state legal trends on health care services. P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 37(4), 218–226.
Schlesinger, M., & Lee, T. K. (1993). Is health care different? Popular support of federal health and social policies. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 18(3), 551-628.
The most common type of federal and state policies in order to improve consumer costs usually revolve around reducing deductible costs in health insurance. But, federal deficit reduction strategies clash with reducing deductible rates because of federal budget cutting. This is a negative impact that federal legislation has on consumer costs. When the federal budget is reduced it is a given that health care costs will rise for patients as they will have to pay more out of pocket, this is something that will overall turn patients away from seeking health care and treatment. That being said, federal and state policies can be made to have either a positive or negative affect on consumer costs which is the same as having a positive or negative affect on our patients. This is why it is important to make sure that policies are made after much deliberation so that our patients don't suffer.
Reference
Buntin, M. B., Damberg, C., Haviland, A., Kapur, K., Lurie, N., McDevitt, R., & Marquis, M. S. (2006). Consumer-Directed Health Care: Early Evidence About Effects On Cost And Quality: Although evidence is limited, early indications are that consumer-directed plans are having a moderating effect on costs and cost increases. Health Affairs, 25(Suppl1), W516-W530.
Larrat, E. P., Marcoux, R. M., & Vogenberg, F. R. (2012). Impact of federal and state legal trends on health care services. P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management, 37(4), 218–226.
Schlesinger, M., & Lee, T. K. (1993). Is health care different? Popular support of federal health and social policies. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 18(3), 551-628.