The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the state and local level
While health care reform has its foundation and framework at the federal level, many key elements will be carried out at the state and local level. Considerable attention has been focused on insurance reforms that will substantially alter the picture of coverage in the country, but the Affordable Care Act also includes other provisions that will affect the way care is delivered in every hospital and doctor’s office in the country: everything from the way providers are paid and practitioners are educated to how quality is measured.
Policy-makers, providers of care, individuals, foundations, and others interested in having an impact on the implementation of health reform will have many opportunities to do so at the state and local level. Since changes to health insurance coverage have been the subject of most reports on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148), this policy brief summarizes some of the most salient state requirements and state and local opportunities with regard to coverage and health care delivery.
Changes to health insurance coverage have been the subject of most reports on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148). Rather than addressing changes that apply to private sector health insurance, this policy brief summarizes some of the most salient state requirements and state and local opportunities with regard to coverage and health care delivery. Section numbers follow each provision of the Act listed.