By Sharon Jones
If you own a healthcare business of any kind, there’s no doubt it’s been a tough year. 2017 has brought arguments, debate, anger, swirling ideas, and controversial Senate votes to the healthcare field, and with every swing of the debate pendulum, you’ve likely found yourself worrying more and more. When there is so much uncertainty, it’s nigh-on impossible to dismiss the political wranglings and focus on getting the most from your business.
Let’s look deeper into what the last year has brought, and consider the future as we move into 2018.
What Happened
It’s fair to say that the current US President is no fan of the Affordable Care Act, which is otherwise known as ‘Obamacare’. Trump has made it clear he wants the ACA repealed and replaced, which falls in line with the same long-term goal of the Republic party.
It should have been easy; the Republicans control the house and senate; the President is a Republican. Yet somehow the repeal and replace effort has been nothing short of disastrous. Votes failed; others were abandoned through lack of support; and the GOP turned their thoughts to tax reform.
So is that it? Is it all over? The ACA lives to fight another day?
Not quite.
Into The Future
The GOP despise Obamacare, and will continue to undermine and fight against it for as long as they are in office. Trump has signed executive orders expressly designed to harm Obamacare. The fight isn’t over, and will likely re-emerge in 2018.
So what can you do as a healthcare business? 2017 has been difficult, the future of your company made uncertain by national debate-- the news that this pressure is unlikely to relent anytime soon is incredibly worrying.
At the present time, with tax reform dominating the headlines, you can take a breath. Use this quiet time to examine your business and answer these questions.
How will your business cope if the ACA fails?
How will your business cope if the ACA doesn’t fail?
What are the next goals you want to achieve with your healthcare business?
How are you going to achieve these goals?
Examine all of these areas, assessing everything from your medical office accounting services through your staffing numbers. This period of respite is an essential time for you to seek to ensure that your business has the strength to withstand further debate and insecurity as we move into the new year.
To The Future
There’s no doubt that 2017 has been a rough year for the healthcare industry, torn by partisan debates and insecurity about the future of healthcare funding. Sadly, the debate has now been put on ice, but this is such an incendiary issue, it is inevitable it will flare again in the future.
For medical offices and businesses, use this quiet period to assess your business and plan for the future. Hopefully, the measures you put in place today will help your company be able to withstand any shocks that are on the horizon in 2018.