Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

On June 28th CMS Administrator Donald Berwick uploaded a blog post outlining how the ACA has strengthened Medicare by $260 million so far this year with reforms to Medicare’s Part D coverage. In his post, Berwick claims that a half million Medicare beneficiaries have received a 50 percent discount on their out-of-pocket costs in the first five months of 2011. The post can be found here.

On June 29th the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the lawsuit filed by the conservative Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) that the ACA’s individual mandate is a valid exercise of the Congress’s authority under the Commerce Clause. The group’s President Richard Thompson said that an appeal is likely. The ruling can be found here.

On June 29th the National Alliance of State Health Cooperatives said it will begin an initiative to create what it calls Consumer Oriented and Operated health plans (CO-OPs). The initiative will begin at a conference on July 17th-18th. The health care cooperatives are authorized under the ACA.

Please see full update below for more information.