Balanced Budget Act of 1997

Balanced Budget Act of 1997 was designed to reduce costs for Medicare and Medicaid. To fully understand the impact, there will be an examination of different scholarly sources. This will highlight the long-term effect of these changes on the health care system. Dickler, R. (2000). The Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Annals of Internal Medicine, 132 (1), 820 -- 824. In the article that was written by Dickler (2000), he found that the Balance Budget Act of 1997 is adversely impacting teaching hospitals. These are facilities where residents and experienced physicians will work with communities.

This has reduced funding to these programs and is resulting in cut backs to the different types of services provided to patients. (Dickler, 2000) Iglehart, J. (1999). Support for Academic Medical Centers. New England Journal of Medicine, 341, 299 -- 304. While Inglehart (1999) found that the Balance Budget Act of 1997 is adversely impacting any facility that is taking Medicare and Medicaid. On the surface, these reductions in fees have resulted in declines for both programs. However, they are adversely impacting the majority of facilities (with Medicare encompassing the largest portion of health care spending).

To address these challenges there needs to be more flexibility applied to the fee structure for these programs. (Iglehart, 1999) Spector, W. (2004). Home Care Before and After. The Gerontologist, 44 (1), 39 -- 47. In the case of home health care, Spector (2004) determined that the Balance Budget Act of 1997 is adversely impacting the elderly and low income groups. This is because these programs are an essential part of their total health care solutions. When there are reductions, patients are forced to pay for services they cannot afford.

The net impact is that states and local governments must shoulder more of the burden. The problem is that they are facing budgetary challenges and will make their own reductions to these programs. This is forcing, the most vulnerable to pay these costs (leading to a reduction in demand). (Spector, 2004) Murkofsky, R. (2003). Length of Stay in Home Care. JAMA, 289 (21), 2841 -- 2848. Moreover, Murkofsky (2003) found that the number of patients utilizing home health services declined after the passage of the law.

This is because they were forced to use nonprofits and other organizations. When this happened, the elderly were exposed to higher costs and the inability to find the services they require. This is having an adverse impact on their health. (Murkofsky, 2003) Schlenker, R. (2002). Rural -- Urban Health Care. The Journal of Rural Health, 18 (2), 359 -- 372. Whereas, Shlenker (2002) determined that the Balance Budget Act of 1997 is negatively impacting rural health care facilities. This is because a larger portion of patients in these areas will often rely on Medicare and Medicaid.

When there is a reduction in fees, this is resulting in the elimination of various services. In a number of cases, the elderly and low income families were unable to make other arrangements (after this occurred). Over the course of time, this left.