I need a response to the below discussion post 75-100 words APA format with 1 Journal Scholatly source

Cost Shifting – Unit 4, Discussion 1

First, we must identify what cost shifting is – this is the cost of a service from a hospital that is offset for individuals with health insurance (pay more) versus individuals without health insurance (pay a less), for the same service (Ahmed, 2015). The most notable health care policy that uses cost shifting is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which made significant adjustments to Medicare and hospitals reimbursements (Frakt, 2014). Ahmed (2015) describes this process as more of a strategy than a policy; it keeps hospitals afloat by managing costs and the ability to be profitable. Profitability is one of the biggest benefits of cost sharing and the capability to manage patient accounts and balance the influx versus the outflow of money (Ahmed, 2015).

Cost shifting is the result of health care policy and will continue to be manipulated per the budget allocations as health care policy changes (Ahmed, 2015). The ACA provides an insurance exchange that is less expensive than traditional insurance, which is set up to allow all American citizens to be insured, which in turn would give hospitals a better reimbursement rate and decrease cost shifting (Hylton, 2016). The struggle comes when the insurance that is offered in this exchange has such a high deductible and covers very little, making the insurance almost of no use unless a large medical event occurs (Hylton, 2016).

References

Ahmed, R. (2015). Cost shifting strategy, organizational competitiveness and survival: An empirical investigation. Summer Internet Proceedings, 17(1), 1-7.

Frakt, A. B. (2014). The end of hospital cost shifting and the quest for hospital productivity. Health Services Research, 49, 1–10.

Hylton, M. O. (2016). Introduction to thinking about a post-ACA world: Litigation, cost shifting and enforcement of statutory rights. Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal, (1), 129.

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