By: Chris Cheng
CENTRAL TEXAS -- While many state politicians voice their outrage with the Supreme Courts ruling on the Affordable Care Act local health care providers keep a wait and see approach.
With Texas leading the nation in uninsured residents the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the affordable care act may come as good news.
The law will now help insure a little over four million Texans.
Along with upholding the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court expanded Medicaid with new eligibility requirements.
This now forces the state to make a decision whether to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid, and whether to roll out a consumer marketplace for comparing and purchasing insurance coverage.
State Attorney, Gregg Abbott, said politicians will have to move swiftly to put together the required health insurance exchange with legislation's next meeting in January.
Officials from Scott & White Hospital said while the act is not the final destination for our nation's health care system it is a step in the right direction.
"We spend in the United States twice as much as the next industrial countries in the way we provide to Americans. So we just need to have a wiser way to spend the money and the Affordable Care Act is an important stop in aligning those incentives for better care for all patients," Dr. James Rohack said.
Dr. Rohack is the director of health care policy at Scott & White and is also the president of the American Medical Association.
He believes this was not a victory for either party but a victory for the patient.
"At the end of the day people are going to get sick, they're still going to need healthcare regardless if you are Republican or Democrat, so improving the care we provide is very important," Dr.
Rohack said.
Seton Medical Center's CEO, Matt Maxfield, in Harker Heights released this statement on the ruling:
"At Seton Medical Center Harker Heights, our focus is superior patient care – plain and simple. We will continue to align our operations towards accountable care, which, in turn, benefits our patients through higher-quality, coordinated treatment, motivated employees, and operating improvements. While today's ruling is of course of interest, there is no change to our day to day commitment to our patients, physicians and staff."
Some health care providers believe the act will help cut hospital operation costs because of the reduced number of uninsured patients that cause mountains of paperwork.
Many doctors also suggest that preventive care could become more popular and reduce the number of costly emergency visits.
