Health care reform American style and the rise of ACOs (De Actuaris)

On March 23, 2010 the entire landscape for healthcare in the United States changed when President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law, mandating comprehensive health care reform. This legislation largely addressed the issue of access to care but did little to address the relentlessly rising costs of care that has plagued the system except for a few provisions that, in time, may fundamentally change the American provider delivery system. In this article we describe how Americans access care and the likely impact of healthcare reform on both access and cost, focusing on the growth of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) which were given significant encouragement by the legislation.