Statement on the Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

By Michael J. Alkire, President & Incoming CEO, Premier Inc.

Today, on the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Premier is pleased to acknowledge the significant progress that has been made to improve the quality and cost of healthcare.

The ACA successfully moved our nation away from the perverse incentives and volume orientation of the fee-for-service system to a system that rewards delivering value for patients and consumers. We’ve seen this born out in a number of bipartisan value-based care models that have reduced waste in the Medicare program by improving care coordination, efficiency and care quality. In fact, based on projections made when the ACA passed, America’s healthcare providers have saved $600 billion over the ACA’s first decade.

Premier’s population health collaborative has consistently outperformed the nation in improving quality and achieving more cost-effective care under these value-based care models. This has resulted from reducing unnecessary care, better coordinating care for patients, reducing readmissions and unnecessary trips to the emergency room, and keeping patients healthy. The outlook for care of Americans under these value-based models is exciting, innovative and equitable.

Beyond accelerating the push to value-based care based on lessons learned during the pandemic, a post-pandemic healthcare system requires modernization of public health and supply chain infrastructure, coupled with real-time, real-world data.

These changes will ensure that we are better positioned to respond to disease outbreaks, natural disasters and other public health emergencies. In addition, such infrastructure is critical for health equity so that we can understand what is happening in communities, rather than flying blind without actionable information about the root causes of disparate outcomes. Finally, the nation needs a transparent, automated supply chain infrastructure so that we never again experience the widespread supply shortages that plagued our COVID-19 response.