PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) projects that President-elect Barack Obama's proposed reform of the U.S. health system would cost the federal government $75 billion in 2009 dollars, the equivalent of $2,500 per newly insured person, according to a report released on Wednesday, Nov. 12, by PwC's Health Research Institute. This level of spending would extend health insurance coverage to 95 percent of all Americans, including two-thirds of those currently without insurance. But funding the near-universal healthcare plan, written before the financial crisis, will likely rely heavily on the reallocation of existing dollars within the health system, which will create challenges and opportunities for the health industry.
According to the report, titled Healthcare Policy in an Obama Administration: Delivering on the Promise of Universal Coverage, approximately $25 billion--about one-third of the cost of the Obama proposal--could come from existing funding for the uninsured, much of which now goes to hospitals for uncompensated care.
The report offers a comprehensive look at the implications of President-elect Obama's proposed policies for commercial insurers, hospitals and other providers, pharmaceutical companies, and life sciences firms and employers. Hospitals will benefit from a decrease in uncompensated care, but uncompensated care funds could be reduced to academic medical centers and safety net hospitals. In addition, a shift in the payer mix to more Medicaid and Medicare may lower profit margins. Read the report.
