A major goal of the Affordable Care Act was to help more people get health insurance. And on that score, it was quite successful.
But resistance to the ACA is strong, and there is no guarantee that it will still be fully in force by 2019.
That was the backdrop for PBN’s 2018 Spring Health Care Summit, at which 10 leaders from the region’s providers and payers, as well as other participants in the region’s health care ecosystem, discussed the issues that remain even as the ACA is weakened.
The keys to the future of health care, according to the discussion, are access and cost.
Access in this case refers to primary care, which is the basis of long-term health for individuals, and according to many, for population health. Rhode Island is challenged on this score, because even though the numbers are not clear, the trend line is not encouraging.
The Ocean State is going to be facing a primary care physician shortage as the state ages, and that cannot be good news for the health of its citizens. What it is, is a call to action for the state’s leaders. We need to do a better job of training and recruiting doctors here.
But of equal, if not more, importance, is the issue of cost. And on that score, the results of continuing efforts to rein in health care cost growth are mixed.
As a number of the summit panelists noted, society will not show infinite patience with the pace of change. The community, in health care and at large, needs to show a greater sense of urgency on this matter. We cannot afford to show limited cost improvements anymore.