Gary W. Herschman, a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Newark office, was quoted in the Bloomberg BNA Health Care Daily Report, in “Obamacare Cases in Limbo Following Republican Wins,” by Mary Anne Pazanowski. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
“Going backwards” isn't an option, Gary Herschman, of Epstein, Becker & Green, Newark, N.J., told Bloomberg BNA. Herschman counsels providers.
ACA programs transforming health-care delivery and payment models were “crucial to stop the upward spiraling trend of health-care costs,” Herschman said. Providers embraced them, and the transformation “spurred significant investment and consolidation in the industry.”
Herschman sees “no logical reason to reverse this positive industry trend.” The ACA's cost-efficient quality health-care initiative “must continue to be pursued.” Republicans may change the look of these programs, but they recognize the changes were needed to fix an “unsustainable health-care delivery system,” Herschman said.
The Trump administration or Congress could address other ACA elements that aren't working as planned, he said. Proposals such as eliminating laws that prevent insurers from crossing state lines “likely will be pursued to enhance competition among health plans across the country, and may lead to more affordable coverage,” Herschman said.
He acknowledged that changes in the law, including amendments to the federal McCarran-Ferguson Act, may be needed to accomplish that goal. The McCarran-Ferguson Act exempts the insurance business from federal regulation, leaving it exclusively within the states’ province.
