Continued Uncertainty after ACA Ruling: Questions remain but IIR's healthcare events offer answers

Following the Supreme Court’s historic ruling on June 29th on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, some very important questions still remain that affect all sectors of the healthcare and life science industries. IIR’s 2nd Annual Health Insurance Exchange Congress and 17th Annual Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Summit will delve into these important questions.

As a whole, the ACA was kept almost entirely intact, meaning health insurance exchanges will be a large part of the future healthcare landscape. There are still questions about how different state-run exchanges will look, what the federally-facilitated exchange will look like, and how everyone can get exchanges running by 2014. At the 2nd Annual Health Insurance Exchange Congress state officials with first-hand experience building exchanges will share their insight. Health plan executives who have experience crafting and implementing financially sound benefits for exchanges will share what works and what doesn’t when competing on an exchange.  If you'd like to join us in Chicago November 13-14 for this event, as a reader of this blog, when you register to join us and mention code XP1710BLOG, you'll save 10% off the standard rate!  For more information on this event, download the agenda.

One provision of the ACA was restricted, which could mean the difference in billions of dollars to the federal government, each state government and the pharmaceutical industry. SCOTUS’s opinion says, “the Medicaid expansion violates the Constitution by threatening States with the loss of their existing Medicaid funding if they decline to comply with the expansion.” This decision gives states some flexibility not to expand their Medicaid programs, without paying the same financial penalties that the law called for. What is uncertain, is which states will choose to expand Medicaid and which won’t, meaning how many Americans will be added to the Medicaid program, and how much more rebating will branded and generic manufacturers have to do?

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, if all 50 states participated in the program, in aggregate, between 2014 and 2019, they will spend $21.1 billion to extend Medicaid, while the federal government will spend $443.5 billion. But if some states choose not to participate in the expansion, the cost to the federal government is still very uncertain. The cost to the pharmaceutical industry, is also hard to estimate. At the 17th Annual Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Summit, expert industry analysts, federal and state government representatives, and pharmaceutical executives will be on hand to discuss what the ACA means for each segment of the industry, and how it will affect bottom lines.  Don't forget, as a reader of this blog, when you register to join us this September 10-12 in Chicago and mention code XP1725BLOG, you'll save 25% off the standard rate!  For more information on this event, download the agenda.