Policy

Because Reading 1,018 Pages of Legalese Is Good For Your Health…

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…here's the full text of the health care reform bill [pdf].

Have at it, using whatever search terms you like, or print out the whole thing to read when your copy of the Upanishads doesn't seem weighty enough. I find no references to "mandatory" and the only mentions of "mandate" relate to state-mandated plans. Three mentions of "competition," and four of "competitive."

Since cutting down administrative costs has been sold as the way this plan will save us all money, this section might be of interest:

17 ''(2) GOALS FOR FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRA
18 TIVE TRANSACTIONS.-The goals for standards
19 under paragraph (1) are that such standards shall-
20 ''(A) be unique with no conflicting or re
21 dundant standards;
22 ''(B) be authoritative, permitting no addi
23 tions or constraints for electronic transactions,
24 including companion guides;

1 ''(C) be comprehensive, efficient and ro
2 bust, requiring minimal augmentation by paper
3 transactions or clarification by further commu
4 nications;
5 ''(D) enable the real-time (or near real
6 time) determination of an individual's financial
7 responsibility at the point of service and, to the
8 extent possible, prior to service, including
9 whether the individual is eligible for a specific
10 service with a specific physician at a specific fa
11 cility, which may include utilization of a ma
12 chine-readable health plan beneficiary identi
13 fication card;
14 ''(E) enable, where feasible, near real-time
15 adjudication of claims;
16 ''(F) provide for timely acknowledgment,
17 response, and status reporting applicable to any
18 electronic transaction deemed appropriate by
19 the Secretary;
20 ''(G) describe all data elements (such as
21 reason and remark codes) in unambiguous
22 terms, not permit optional fields, require that
23 data elements be either required or conditioned
24 upon set values in other fields, and prohibit ad
25 ditional conditions; and

1 ''(H) harmonize all common data elements
2 across administrative and clinical transaction
3 standards.

Thanks to Jake Tapper for the link.