New Government Initiatives

Abstract

There has been a great deal of activity in the area of federal healthcare policies over the last few years. These changes have and will affect how healthcare services are accessed, managed, and paid for. Health records and protection of individual health records have also seen legislation passed. Also, further changes to patient record keeping and billing, coding of medical records, and the electronic storage of these records are occurring. This chapter will discuss some of the newer activities in healthcare policy that have made changes in healthcare industry over the last few years, making alterations currently and more changes in the future. These changes will affect every part of healthcare; and the administrators and physicians need to be aware of these legislative actions. Some of the healthcare policy changes include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, accountable care organizations, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, and the change of diagnosis codes from ICD-9 to ICD-10. While some of these new laws have already been implemented and in effect, there are many actions from these laws to be enacted over the next few years. These laws have impinged and will impinge on all participants in healthcare system including the insured, the uninsured, providers of healthcare services, payers of healthcare services, taxpayers, businesses, and all US citizens.