The new healthcare legislation will set in motion a fundamental shift across the industry, with insurers facing an expanded list of restrictions and hospitals and doctors confronted with new incentives to practice more-efficient care. By far, the most direct effect will be on insurers, the Washington Post reports. Over the next several years, health insurance will evolve into something more closely resembling a publicly regulated utility: It will have a guaranteed base of customers, thanks to the coverage requirement, but it will be bound by much tighter restraints than today's individual insurance market, where regulations vary widely from state to state, the Post reports.
