The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Insurance Industry, Including Workers’ Compensation

In an interview with wrintv.com, Dr. Robert Hartwig of the Insurance Information Institute gave a rundown on the impact of the ACA on the insurance industry, now that the Act has been declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court:

• Health care insurers. Since the ACA is compulsory coverage, this means everybody is going to be a customer, which, in turn, means more business for health care insurers.
• Hospitals, clinics, and health care providers. The ACA is great news for them as they will see a demand for their services. Moreover, the ACA largely resolves for them the medical costs of the indigent and uninsured.
• Medicaid managed care providers. The ACA is good for them.
• Traditional managed care providers for large employers. It's unclear if the ACA is good for them, as they will have more competition. Expect to see managed care to begin restructuring in 2014.
• Property & Casualty. While there is little, direct impact from the ACA, it does create a small benefit in that “it should diminish cost shifting into workers’ comp whereby people who had no health care coverage were effectively staying out longer on claims or even feigning injuries in order to obtain some kind of coverage for their ailments through the workers’ comp system.”
• Liability insurance of private auto coverage in no fault states. There is no danger to workers' comp in terms of rolling it into the general health care system.
• Medical malpractice insurance. We could see medical malpractice reforms as a result of the ACA.
• Workers' Comp & Disability insurance. The ACA promotes wellness programs, which could impact workers’ comp and disability insurance.

Listen to the interview here.

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