Published by: Larry Gage on 4/1/2010 4:06:46 PM
Health reform is an enormously complicated piece of legislation, which will take a substantial effort to understand as well as to implement. But some parts of the new law take effect almost immediately, and many more over the next one to two years. NAPH will continue to provide members with a detailed analysis of the full range of health reform implementation issues, including a time frame for implementation of its many different components. In the meantime, it is incumbent on NAPH members to educate their patients and their communities as well as yourselves. From that perspective, I have found several recent articles in the New York Times to provide valuable summaries for patients and "consumers." (And in the end, aren't we all "consumers" of health care?) The New York Times devoted virtually the whole "Science Times" section earlier this week to reform (Health Care, The New Landscape"), including "What's in It for Me? On the day President Obama signed the Senate bill into law (Wednesday, March 24, 2010) the Times featured an article called How Different Types of People Will Be Affected by the Health Care Overhaul". This useful article laid out the potential impact on a number of different hypothetical individuals and families. We can't leave it up to President Obama alone to explain the implications of health reform to our patients—NAPH members and other safety net providers should also be active educators. Articles like these can help us with that task.