The year ahead in health care

What does 2015 hold in store for health care? The answer is a lot.

The White House has already brought health care into the news with a recent address by Vice President Joe Biden reminding citizens that they have until February 15 to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

And several major health developments lie ahead. Chief among them is the challenge that President Obama faces for the first time of having to grapple with a Republican majority in the Senate. The repercussions for the ACA are still uncertain, but efforts to revise or repeal it have become a New Year's resolution for the new majority party.

The ACA also faces another trip to the Supreme Court in 2015. The case, King v. Burwell, involves a challenge to the implementation of the law that could revoke insurance subsidies that millions of Americans received during the first and second open enrollment periods. Individuals living in states with federally operated insurance exchanges would no longer be eligible to receive financial assistance in purchasing coverage, if the lawsuit is successful. A decision in the case is likely in June.

But the ACA will not be to only major health care story in 2015. As a recent report from the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers points out, some of the biggest developments may involve changes in the nature of doctor-patient relationships. New technologies, such as Fitbit and electronic health records, will change the way doctors and patients interact. More than half of all physicians say they are comfortable with mobile health apps, and 86% believe that mobile health apps will become important for their patients' health management over the next five years. The question is whether, and how much, patients will use them.

The report also examined how the doctors' side of the doctor patient relationship is likely to change. Increasing numbers of patients are receiving care from nurse practitioners and physician assistants rather than from physicians. And, on the whole, they don't seem to mind. Most health care consumers report being comfortable receiving care from non-physician clinicians.

And a provision in the ACA that went into effect on January 1 may also change the way physicians render care. Their payments under Medicare will now be more closely tied to the quality of care they provide. Those whose care scores higher on quality measures will receive larger payments those whose care produces lower scores.

2015 promises to be another exciting year in health law.

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