We know the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will significantly alter the US health care environment.
What happens next is critical…
With changes to Medicare work requirements, more rigid eligibility checks, and ACA marketplace subsidies, this legislation is expected to affect care access nationwide – regardless of a hospital’s location, setting, or tax-exempt status.
It’s important for organizations to understand what’s next and how to prepare.
In his recent article for Forbes, SullivanCotter’s President and CEO, Ted Chien, highlights the importance of the community benefit mandate, the widespread impact that limiting access to care will have, and how closures and restrictions on care in rural hospitals may impact labor challenges in other settings.
He also outlines steps that health care leaders can take as they look to protect patient access and continue to serve their communities:
- Reimagine organizational structures and consider new approaches to administrative and support functions. Greater efficiency and cost control can help to preserve resources for direct patient care.
- Review care delivery protocols to ensure they are tailored to the needs of local populations and that resource deployment supports the most critical services.
- Focus on population health strategies to help improve long-term outcomes, lessen reliance on expensive acute care, and inform smarter investment and resource decisions.
- Determine the efficacy of telehealth services to close care gaps, especially in rural areas where hard infrastructure can be limited.
- Harness AI to drive efficiency and improve patient engagement and outreach.