Health Care Shareholder Thomas E. Boyle Quoted on Practical Effect of Affordable Care Act in The Legal

Without the specter of uncertainty cast by the Affordable Care Act, health care providers are beginning to restart strategic moves that were tabled in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision.

As Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Shareholder Thomas E. Boyle explained to The Legal Intelligencer, providers were slowed down on executing strategic plans, but the ruling removes the uncertainty roadblocks. Boyle expects an acceleration of merger activity and collaboration between providers will increase in the more stable market.

Value-based payments – which tie hospital compensation to treatment results instead of services provided – were introduced prior to the ACA, but Boyle noted they are a point of emphasis under the act.

Under a value-based payment system, insurers may dock pay from a hospital with high readmission rates, or reward it for reducing the number of hospital-acquired infections, Boyle explained.