When the New Jersey Association of Health Underwriters convened its first symposium on health care in 2009, there was tremendous optimism for a solution to the health care crisis that has hit this country.
There was a new president in the White House and a yearning for change across the nation. We considered this new era as the golden bipartisan opportunity for our lawmakers to create viable solutions for a 30- year-old health care dilemma that left 1.4 million New Jerseyans without insurance.
As we prepare for our sixth annual event, to be held Sept. 17 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, there remain many unknowns. As we noted in 2009, there is a desperate need to make health insurance more accessible and affordable, as well as the need for true dialogue among the leaders of government and industry.
Now, with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) – considered the hallmark legislation of a “new” president who is now seeing the sun begin to set on his administration – we are convinced there is no silver bullet solution to the issue.
PPACA, considered the most sweeping change to the U.S. healthcare system since the passage of Medicaid and Medicare in 1965, has so far not resulted in quality, affordable insurance for all Americans, as it was originally billed.
Instead, we still see double-digit premium increases for our clients year after year. And we see many employees and employers foregoing insurance coverage not because of lack of interest, but because of the startling cost. It is of no surprise that the only constant among the 625 members of our association is the struggle to perform our jobs under the mandates of this “new normal.”
With PPACA, many new words have become part of our daily vocabulary. We have spent countless hours talking to our clients about “mandates,” “subsidies” and the “insurance exchanges” designed to accomplish the president’s goals of uniform coverage for all Americans. We now talk plenty about pre-existing conditions, and how PPACA is supposed to be shifting the system toward quality over quantity with increased competition, regulation, and incentives to streamline the delivery of healthcare.
Is it all working? Frankly, we don’t know. But we do know our clients are continuing to pay a steep price in the amount of increased premiums year after year, forcing many to purchase higher-deductible plans that offer little when someone gets sick. We see employers and employees paying more for less, as the rulebook continues to be rewritten.
This is the ideal time for our annual symposium, as we have put together panels and speakers who stand on the front lines of the issue and are the ones who can provide the clarity we are so desperately seeking.
What we expect to hear from our panelists and other speakers at our sixth annual “State of the State in Healthcare” symposium is unique perspective from across the healthcare industry about how we are all struggling to comply with the new federal law.
We will hear from a representative of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, from the New Jersey Association of Health Plans and from our own national organization about how PPACA is succeeding to insure many, but how it is not the panacea that many of the president’s supporters purport it to be.
We will also hear from the leaders of major health insurance companies who write polices in New Jersey, as well as representatives of doctors and hospitals who are trying to adapt to this evolution, as they try to chart a future in a world that can instantly change depending on which federal lawmakers are elected.
As with any good law, there needs to be time for modification and fine-tuning. This is that critical time for PPACA. For it to succeed – and truly be the solution the president envisions – our lawmakers need to hear from us.
And that is why the dialogue created at our annual event is so vital. You can learn more at www.njahu.org
Carolyn Andress, a resident of Hazlet, is president of the Monmouth Ocean Chapter of the New Jersey Association of Health Underwriters.