Dr Robert Carlson Predicts 2017 Will Be "Year of Uncertainty" For Healthcare

There is significant uncertainty surrounding the healthcare system’s future in 2017 under a Republican Congress and President, but it’s unlikely that the Affordable Care Act will be repealed without some replacement that accommodates the individuals newly covered by it, said Robert W. Carlson, MD, CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Transcript (slightly modified)

What are some forces that will drive the transformation of healthcare in 2017?

Well, this interview is being taped just 1 week after the presidential election, so I think that the major uncertainty about what’s going to drive healthcare over the next year actually relates to the Trump administration and the Republican Congress and Senate, and what components of the Affordable Care Act they maintain or repeal. The early information is that they will repeal the Affordable Care Act, but it’s hard for me as a clinician to believe that they would do that without replacing it with something that assured the care of the 20 million people that the Affordable Care Act has extended insurance to, and also without being sure that those individuals for whom healthcare has been extended, or coverage has been extended, such as those with pre-existing conditions or the children under 26 years of age, that there wouldn’t be some system of accommodating and caring for those individuals.

But I think this is going to be a year of transition, it sounds like it’s going to be a big year of uncertainty in healthcare because of the early statements that are coming out about how the Republican administration is likely to modify the national insurance coverage.