Summary of Major Health Reform Provisions

After months of heated deabate, Congress passed a health reform package which was signed into law by President Obama in March.

NAHAM has provided a summary of the major provisions included in the final health reform plan. Most of the changes affect changes to the payment system and do not have a direct impact on the daily work of healthcare access managers. However, now that health reform has passed in Congress, there is still much work to be done by the federal agencies in order to put the rules and regulations of health reform into place.

The plan expands access to care, but contains few provisions on the need for more administrative staff and better technology that will help improve efficiency, reduce admission wait times, and move patients through the continuum of care. These are issues that will need to be addressed as facilities will likely see an increased patient load. NAHAM will communicate with policymakers to ensure that these issues are addressed as health reform is implemented.

To read the NAHAM Health Reform Summary, click here:
http://www.naham.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4225

Welcome to the NAHAM News Blog!

Staying on top of what’s happening in healthcare is the best way to ensure that we are prepared for the latest standards, regulations, and policies that will affect our work as healthcare access managers.

On behalf of the NAHAM Government Relations Committee, I would like to welcome you to the NAHAM News blog! The NAHAM Government Relations Committee has developed the NAHAM News blog to provide you with a one-stop resource for the latest news relevant to healthcare access management.

The blog will provide updates on regulatory updates, accreditation agency announcements, federal legislation, and general health care news. The blog will also feature commentary on issues from members of the NAHAM Government Relations Committee. Below each post, you will find a comment field. I encourage you to use this field to post your thoughts on the latest issues, engage in conversation with patient access managers across the country, and to ask questions to the members of the NAHAM Government Relations Committee.

In the coming year, NAHAM will continue building our presence as a healthcare leader by establishing relationships with like-minded industry groups and new policy-makers in Washington, and by taking proactive steps to make an impact on developing healthcares standards and regulations. I hope you will be able to see that NAHAM will not just deliver the news, we’ll be making news.

We hope you find the NAHAM News blog to be a valuable resource and we welcome any comments, questions, or news tips at news@naham.org.

Brenda Sauer, CHAM is the Chair of the NAHAM Government Relations Committee.