ACOs and PCMHs: Health Care Transformation or More Alphabet Soup?

The challenges facing the American health care system are clear. Tens of millions of people have difficulty paying for health care because they are uninsured or underinsured. The introduction of health insurance subsidies in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should substantially mitigate this issue. However, the challenge of access will remain formidable due to the choice of many states, including Florida, not to expand Medicaid eligibility. There are numerous opportunities to improve health care quality and, by extension, people’s overall health. Also, many agree that the upward trend of health care costs is unsustainable. The United States spends approximately 80 percent more per person on health care than Norway, the second country in this category. This is driven, in large part, by a fee-for-service payment structure, provider consolidation and medical technology.