3 Years Into the Healthcare Marketplace

Over the past three years, RCA has embraced changes that the Affordable Care Act has given us and instead of viewing them as challenges, we have found an opportunity to be at the forefront of it.

As a Certified Application Counselor Organization, we provide education and assistance to our hospital client patients and general public enrolling in the healthcare exchange. Our clients turn to us with questions and concerns that we can confidently address for them.

So, are people signing up?

The answer really depends on whether or not your state expanded Medicaid.

In non-expansion states, there is still a gap of uninsured people that do not qualify for Medicaid and insurance premiums are too high for most to afford. Since the government knows this, they have waived the penalty fee for those taxpayers in non-expansion states who do not qualify for Medicaid. The result of this has been less enrollments and the self-pay population remaining largely unchanged.

If you are in an expansion state, chances are you have seen a decline in the self-pay population. With that decrease, healthcare professionals are going to see more Medicaid; however, the reimbursements in some cases have been reduced. For hospitals, finding revenue in remaining at-risk populations, such as non-citizens, has never been more important than it is at this point in time.

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