Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis and Vice President for the Fund's Program on Affordable Health Insurance Sara Collins answered reporters' questions about the specifics and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act during a teleconference on April 16th.
Davis and Collins addressed questions such as:
- What are the major provisions of the law and when will they be implemented?
- How will reform affect specific groups like young adults, small businesses, large employers, those who currently have employer health insurance, and low- and moderate-income families?
- Who will the high-risk pools benefit and what are the key implementation issues?
- How will health reform affect health care costs?
- Will the Medicare Advisory Board have the authority it needs to contain costs?
- What will it take to get the exchanges up and running? How will they function?
- What are the key challenges to implementation in the years ahead?
Related Resources:
View a webcast of an expert panel, "What's in There?: An Ask-the-Experts Overview of the Health Reform Law," hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund.
Also, in response to the new legislation, The Commonwealth Fund has developed detailed timelines for implementation of the law's provisions on insurance coverage, system and delivery reforms, and financing. You can access those timelines here: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/interactives-and-data/health-reform-resource-center.
