On December 20, 2017, the U.S Congress after material obstacles, passed what is without any doubt a historic legislation, the\u00a0Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017\u00a0(TCJA). President Donald J. Trump for technical budge reasons, as has been reported, is expected to execute and become law in first few days of 2018.<\/p>\n
Though\u00a0the law was intended to cut taxes for U.S. Corporations and individuals, the\u00a0new\u00a0law has material impact on healthcare.\u00a0\u00a0The big event\u00a0on healthcare\u00a0is the \u201crepeal of the individual mandate\u201d to have health insurance\u00a0coverage\u00a0as\u00a0part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), also referred to as\u00a0ObamaCare.<\/p>\n
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO),\u00a0it\u00a0estimated that 4 million Americans will opt-out of health insurance in 2019, and\u00a0that number will be\u00a0increasing to 13 million by 2027.<\/p>\n
There are also other potential implications, one is that individual premiums\u00a0could rise by 10% \u201cin most years of the\u00a0next\u00a0decade.”\u00a0That means that in\u00a0roughly\u00a0eight\u00a0years, individual healthcare premiums\u00a0will double.<\/p>\n
The CBO noted that most of those that opt out could be those that are healthier.\u00a0In\u00a0summary,\u00a0more\u00a0people\u00a0will\u00a0only\u00a0be\u00a0able\u00a0to access healthcare by paying for services directly\u00a0and not though their insurance companies. We believe\u00a0that number of\u00a0uninsured or underinsured and those with high deductible plans will increase materially.<\/p>\n
Approximately,\u00a070 million\u00a0Americans could be uninsured, underinsured, or have\u00a0high deductible plans\u00a0by 2027. This is particularly challenging\u00a0when recent reports stated\u00a0that healthcare cost increased a minimum of\u00a04.3% in 2016.<\/p>\n
Clearly, we are at\u00a0a\u00a0time\u00a0where we will need\u00a0more transparent pricing models in healthcare\u00a0for those paying for healthcare out of pocket, and\u00a0better use of\u00a0technology to control cost and provide better care. More on TCJA in the future.<\/p>\n
– Noel J. Guillama, President<\/p>\n