First few Article Sentences
As 2019 begins, health care plans and provider systems are rightfully perplexed by the clamor of continued Trump Administration efforts to erode the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as the broad, and somewhat conflicting, policy assertions of other transformation initiatives. Examples of conflicting policy assertions are found in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published, "Reforming America's Healthcare System Through Choice and Competition" where relationships between third party payors and Medicare Advantage (MA) are discussed. Further, the federal court's ruling in Texas v. Azar declaring the entire ACA unconstitutional in a decision rife with questionable legal analysis, has added to this policy haze with a virtual "Sword of Damocles" hanging over the ACA, commonly referred to as Obamacare.