242264 Assessing improvements to health care coverage for persons with disabilities using the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Healthy People 2020 as a guide

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Luis Rodriguez, MD, MPH , School of Health Sciences & Practice, Department of Health Policy & Management, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY
Mahwish Khan, MPH , School of Health Sciences & Practice, Department of Health Policy & Management, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY
Monae Johnson, MPH, MBS , School of Health Sciences & Practice, Department of Health Policy and Management, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY
David White, MPH , School of Health Science & Practice, Department of Health Policy & Management, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY
Karina Aguilar, MPH , School of Health Sciences & Practice, Department of Health Policy & Management, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY
Miranda Chung, MPH , School of Health Science & Practice, Department of Health Policy & Management, New York Medical College, Valahalla, NY
Deborah Viola, PhD , Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Health Sciences & Practice, Valhalla, NY
Healthy People 2020 (HP 2020) set out to make more realistic targets for health objectives as compared to the idealistic targets set 10 years prior. Our overall goal was to assess how the PPACA will further HP 2020 goals for all people regardless of their disability status? We hypothesized that the PPACA will advance HP 2020 goal 2 (to achieve health equity, eliminate disparities and improve the health of all groups) and goal 3 (to create social and physical environments that promote good health for all). We conducted a qualitative assessment of the PPACA, using HP 2010 data as a baseline, we assessed whether PPACA provisions supported the stated HP 2020 objective of 10% improvement in health care access and coverage for persons with disabilities. We found that the PPACA will advance the goals of HP2020 through the implementation of several key provisions including creation of high-risk pools, insurance rescission ban, and to a lesser extent the CLASS Act. However, when considering equity vs. equality, equitable outcomes are not evident for the adolescent and elder disabled populations as evidenced by their ineligibility for the CLASS Act (long-term care). Short-term increases in private health insurance cost will perpetuate discrimination for the disabled. The larger implications will be evident as the PPACA provisions occur in the context of HP 2020 programs. It is questionable to what extent other policy interactions, such as immigration reform, will cause the PPACA to promote HP 2020 goals.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Define key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that pertain to persons with disabilities Define goals 2 and 3 of Healthy People 2020 Evaluate whether or not the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act furthers goals 2 and 3 of HP 2020 Discuss whether or not health care coverage issues for persons with disabilities have been ameliorated

Keywords: Disability Policy, Health Care Reform

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a co-author on the project and a doctoral student and I am qualified to present the material.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.