Balanced Budget Act of 1997

Balanced Budget Act of 1997 is having an impact on health care providers by making cuts in Medicare and Medicaid fees. To understand what is happening requires conducting a literature review. This will provide specific insights as to how these changes are affecting the health care system over the long-term. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 has reshaped the way that health care providers are interacting with stakeholders (i.e. low income families and the elderly).

According to Spector (2004) the reduction in the fees has meant that many facilities will not continue to offer different services to Medicare and Medicaid recipients. This results in an increase in the costs for receiving services that are an important part of their total health care solution. When this happens, they will no longer use these programs. This hurts the quality of care that they are obtaining.

(Spector, 2004) The information from this source is useful, because it is showing the long-term impacts of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 on Medicare and Medicaid patients. This is supporting the problem and the purpose of this study by illustrating the effects of these changes. At the same time, this is also answering several different research questions in the areas of: how this impacted quality, choices and the delivery of health care services.

These facts are offering insights that help to improve the accuracy of the research by looking at the patient's perspective. At the same time, different facilities will suffer from the reduced fees provided for Medicare and Medicaid. Shlenker (2002) found that this can have an impact on many rural and inner city hospitals. This is because the majority of their patients will use these programs to help address their needs.

When there is a reduction in the total amount of fees, this will have an impact on the financial well-being of these facilities. Moreover, many patients will be forced to travel out of their way to receive treatment. In a number of cases, this will result in them not obtaining the kind of care they require. This is when these cuts will have an impact on their health and the types of services that are readily available.

(Shlenker, 2002) The information from this source is showing the effect that the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 is having on rural and inner city health care facilities. This is directly supporting the problem statement by highlighting how there is a loss in treatment options. The way that this is occurring is through forcing patients to pay more (which they cannot afford). In the future, this will impact when and where they are receiving these kinds of services.

At the same time, this is supporting the purpose statement by showing how these changes are causing them to use less of these solutions. Furthermore, this is sustaining the research questions that are concentrating on: the impact to providers, the types of services that are offered and the way patients receive them. These elements are showing how the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 is hurting health care facilities that are working with some of the most vulnerable.

Moreover, Bazzoli (2004) found that Balanced Budget Act of 1997 had a negative impact on all health care facilities. This is because the cuts were coming when many private insurance companies followed the federal government's lead (with their own reductions). At the same time, most patients often used some form of Medicare to cover certain areas that are not protected under their existing policy. This meant that these facilities were facing increasing costs and decreasing profit margins.

In the long-term, this is forcing hospitals to make reductions in doctors, nurses and other staff members. While various health professionals were realizing lower amounts of income from working with a variety of patients. This creates frustration in some individuals, who will eventually leave the industry because of these challenges.

(Bazzoli, 2004) Evidence of this can be seen with Bazzoli (2004) saying, "We found that some operational changes instituted by hospitals facing financial pressures from the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 experienced growing inpatient use and declining profit margins." This is illustrating how these cuts are hurting all health care providers. As they have to struggle, to deal with more patients and lower income levels. To address these challenges, many facilities are forced to cut back on expenses (which will lead to a long-term reduction in these services).

When this happens, patients will not be able to receive the same quality in comparison with the past. This is the point that they will be forced to go to other facilities which are farther away. At the same time, they may chose not to go to a location because of the inconvenience. As a result, there will be a short-term increase in demand for services. However, the long-term the decline in profit margins will lead to a reduction in treatment options and patients.

This hurts quality and the availability of a variety of programs. (Bazzoli, 1994) To corroborate these views, Dickler (2000) found that reductions in funding to Medicare and Medicaid are impacting teaching facilities. This is hurting the quality of residents and experienced physicians that are working.