The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is not only extending health coverage to millions, it's launching new businesses and creating jobs.
That's the latest from PricewaterhouseCoopers's Health Research Institute, which chose the fifth anniversary of PPACA's legal birthday to release an analysis of just what Obamacare hath wrought.
PwC's study cited five major trends that emerged as a result of health care reform: the spreading and shifting of risk throughout the health care landscape; a renewed focus on primary care services as the "fulcrum" of the new care delivery and payment system; reform as a stimulus for the evolving shift of insurance from a b-to-b to a business-to-consumer industry; and the emerging role of states as key players in reform.
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There's one more, which PwC calls "new entrants." These are the businesses that didn't exist five years ago that trace their founding directly to the PPACA.
Here's the breakdown of the 90-plus new companies identified by PwC:
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Telehealth: 29; examples include MediSafe and Vivre Health
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Consumer education: 15; examples include Azumio, Doctible, HealthSparq and Zest Health
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Process improvement: 14; examples include Dabo Health, Epion Health and Cureatr
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Connector: 9; examples include Grand Rounds and Smart Patients
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Health and wellness benefits: 9; examples include AchieveMint, EveryMove and Jiff
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Model innovation: 7; examples include Aledade, Alignment Healthcare, and Iora Health
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Analytics: 7; examples include Artemis, Flatiron Health and Human API
These are all businesses that are ongoing today — no foldups in the group. While there weren't hard estimates for how many jobs have been created in the private sector, or how much wealth these newbies have generated, you can be sure the folks in the White House will be hard at it to produce those numbers ASAP.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
