What Patient-Centered Health Care Reform Really Looks Like
Kathryn Nix /
There’s a lot of talk these days about patient-centered health care reform. Before Obamacare, health care revolved around employers, and little has changed since passage of the new law.
This is primarily due to federal policy regarding the tax treatment of employer-sponsored insurance, which was left untouched by the federal overhaul. In recent research, Heritage’s Gregg Girvan explains how this system has led to one-size-fits-all employer-based plans that offer “little or no personal choice; little or no portability of coverage in a rapidly changing economy where workers are changing jobs and careers; and little or no flexibility in tailoring insurance coverage to meet individual and family needs.”
Obamacare moves the focus more towards government than individuals. In contrast, the new patient-centered system Utah is implementing as part of its own health care reform moves employer coverage away from “defined benefits” and towards “defined contribution.” This allows employees to apply their employers’ contribution to a health plan that works best for them. Girvan explains: (more…)