I think from how the Affordable Care Act was set up, we're still seeing problems in its operation. Billing patients is only one part of it, but it's a major one, especially on the side of premiums and claims. What I'm saying is that the law is particularly weak in overseeing companies like the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association are paying claims after collecting premiums, and not just pocketing premiums. This is a massive flaw within the system, and one that will get worse overtime. This was one of my many misgivings about the law having little teeth; designing the program around the insurance companies that have a history of scamming premium-payers. The insurance companies would not be liable for their own misdeeds since they are now de facto organs of the 50 states and the Fed itself.
Even now, the ACA does nothing to really help mitigate the monopolies of the health-insurance companies and their corrosive effect on prices, only subsidizing the monopolistic effects. I know of the greater goals that the ACA pushes forth for us, but as I said earlier it needs some major tweeking in order to work.
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