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States Moving 'Assertively' with ACA Provisions

John Commins, for HealthLeaders Media, March 22, 2012

Otherwise, Collins says, there does not appear to be much of a Red State/Blue State divide when it comes to implementing the ACA. "If you look at states that passed laws to give themselves the legislative authority to implement all 10 of these provisions, it's a mix: Connecticut, North Carolina, Maryland, Hawaii, Iowa, New York, Virginia, Vermont, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota," Collins says. 

The Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama, with early market reforms taking effect six months later. The report found that the speed at which many states adopted the new provisions of the ACA probably was more dependent upon the schedules of state legislatures. The report also suggested that some states remain cautious about further ACA implementations until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the individual mandate. That ruling is expected in June.

The report warns that even though states have until 2014 to fully implement the ACA, some reforms could prove to be more difficult because they are new and don't exist in state law.

"When you look down the road to the 2014 reforms—the bans on underwriting, the guaranteed issue provisions, the new federal subsidies that will be flowing into states along with the Medicaid expansion—these are important changes that states are going to be experiencing in their markets, and also just in terms of their overall fiscal health," Collins says. "These are long-term chronic issues that we have experienced for many years and these provisions really do address some of the serious issue that states have faced." 

John Commins is a senior editor with HealthLeaders Media.
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1 comments on "States Moving 'Assertively' with ACA Provisions"


Alfred Neuman MD (3/22/2012 at 11:01 AM)
This article is a bit slanted and distorted, in what appears to be another media attempt to support this President and his failing Administration. As an experienced physician, healthcare sr. administrator and consultant, i can tell you that very few of the principle elements in "Obamacare" have been acted on by large healthcare systems across the country. They either think it's going to be repealed, reversed in the High Court, or at the vey least seriously modified before any of the onerous requirements actually are mandated to go in place. A recent public opinion survery shows that nearly 2/3 of Americans have a negative view of Obamacare and don't want it to go into place. Healthleaders Media Council seems to have an agenda in favor of this Administration and its often poorly thought out policies.