Affordable Care Act provision saves up to $16 billion

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that a new provision of the Affordable Care Act for electronic transfer funds will save up to an additional $4.5 billion in administrative costs for the health care field and insurance companies during the next 10 years.

Streamlining the electronic transfer — the funds from last July plus this new one ­— will save more than $16 billion overall in health care over the next 10 years, according to a U.S. HHS department press release.

The new provision, called the Adoption of Standards for Health Care Electronic Funds Transfer and Remittance Advice, streamlines the way banks send claims to health care providers.

The Remittance Advice, a payment notice sent to providers, is also sometimes sent with the claim and will carry the same transaction number as the notice, saving time and money of administrative tasks. 

The new standard added to another regulation of the Act that was published last July, enabling health care providers to electronically determine a patient’s eligibility for health coverage and the status of a health claim.

That standard also changed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which requires health insurance companies and health care providers to protect patient’s health information. 

Currently, IU Health offers NoMoreClipboard.com to students so they can freely access and manage their health records even when their IU health plan ends.

The Monroe Hospital charges a $10 labor fee for the request of personal medical records, along with the cost of mailing, $20 for certifying the patient’s records and $10 for the first 10 pages if the records are needed within two days of the request, according to its website.

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration declined to comment on how much money the act will save on a state level, because the health reform is still in the process of being implemented.

— Jaclyn Lansbery