November 10, 2010 by lonbud

Infographic of the Day: Effects of Healthcare Reform

Click chart for High-Res image.

There’s a pretty smart lady out there named Lisa Cummings, who is a global benefits consultant advising Fortune 500 companies on best practices regarding plan design and legal compliance. An ERISA attorney by training, Ms. Cummings has a lot of experience analyzing health and retirement plans in the US and around the world and she’s written a detailed critique of what some are derisively calling Obamacare, the so-called Healthcare Reform legislation enacted by the most recent congress, some provisions of which are set to begin taking effect next year.

As you can see by the chart Ms. Cummings used to illustrate her analysis, the question of whether the legislation is good or bad — and on which groups it promises to confer both burdens and benefits — is rather complex.

Some in the newly empowered Republican delegation pining to flex its muscle in the next session of congress have vowed to repeal the legislation.  Many who have a credible understanding of how things work in Washington, DC believe that is an unlikely prospect.  I am inclined to anticipate that we should be prepared for a perfect storm in which poorly prepared, misguided legislators will make total hash of a badly flawed piece of legislation and leave all the interested parties — excepting Big Insurance, of course — far worse off than they are today and than they would be if the law were to be allowed to take effect as written.

Ironically, I think that puts me on the side of those who’d like to scrap the whole thing and start over.

#healthcare#reform