Maybe it’s something a few medical professionals anticipated but it may come as a shock to the rest – the Affordable Care Act (ACA), part of healthcare reform, could result in a plunge in revenue, more than half the hospital and health systems in the country recently surveyed fear.
Another 12 percent is a little more hopeful, anticipating an increase in revenue, according to HighRoads, a provider of SaaS-enabled (software as a service) healthcare compliance and benefits management, and Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc. (SullivanCotter), a compensation and human resource management consulting firm, which conducted the survey.
Almost 30 percent said they don’t yet know the impact that ACA will have on their revenues, according to a SullivanCotter press release.
SullivanCotter recently conducted a study of nearly 200 healthcare professionals with 3,000 to 9,500 employees to look at employee benefit trends.
The findings are part of a first-time survey of employee benefit practices in hospitals and health systems HighRoads and SullivanCotter conducted between November 2011 and January 2012, according to the press release.
“Hospital and health systems’ financial health has a direct impact on the benefits offered to healthcare employees,” said Maureen Cotter, senior principal, HighRoads, in the press release. “Even though 70 percent of those surveyed stated that they are committed to providing coverage in the long term, and no organizations have plans to discontinue coverage now or in the future, the coverage provided may take a new shape.”
She added that, among those surveyed, 42 percent plan to become an accountable care organization (ACO) and 18 percent plan to structure their employee health plan to resemble an ACO type of organization.
The study also found that, when compared to other industries, hospitals and health systems employees are slightly more likely to enroll in preferred provider organization (PPO)/point of service (POS) plans compared to 62 percent for workers in other industries.
And more hospital and health system employees enrolled in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) at a rate of 25 percent compared to 19 percent for the general industry population, according to the press release.
But when it comes to enrollment in high-deductible health plans, the ratio shifts. Only 9 percent of employees at hospitals and health systems have chosen these, compared to the general industry average of 15 percent, the press release reports.
These types of plans certainly have their drawbacks, I can say from personal experience. Because I have a pre-existing condition and am self-employed, my husband and I needed to purchase health insurance through a group. We decided, after too many years of quadruple-digit premiums, to scale back to a policy with a $5,000 deduction. The result? We are still paying off last year’s medical bills, even though we paid a premium every month.
Thankfully, we were both healthy and did not have to draw against the deductible. But we still racked up a fair amount of medical bills for minor procedures that reached into the low thousands, while still paying a whopping premium.
My advice? Shop around. If you’re in good health, this may not be the way to go.
But when it comes to employers and health insurance, “Hospitals and health systems have unique benefits management challenges that may be magnified by ACA requirements,” Cotter added in the press release. “By looking exclusively at employee benefits trend information for this distinct market, we hope to enable hospitals and health systems to optimize their benefits plans to better provide for their employees while lowering overall costs to their organization.”
Edited by
Jennifer Russell
