The Affordable Care Act and Travel Nursing

At Travel Nurse Across America, we are committed to becoming the best travel nurse agency in the industry by providing the best experience for every nurse, on every assignment. This goes beyond offering the best benefits package. Our team is continually striving to create innovative benefits and putting focus on the little things to make traveling with TNAA a rewarding and fun experience. While this information is no longer the most up-to-date, it’s still relevant to our travelers. 

The Affordable Care Act & Travel Nursing

With the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Healthcare Staffing Agencies are now assessing how the more than 1,000-page document will impact their contingent labor, hospital clients and company. The goal of the ACA is to extend healthcare coverage to millions of Americans through a marketplace who are not currently covered through:

• Mandates for individuals and employers
• Subsidies for people who can not afford coverage on their own
• Insurance due to pre-existing conditions

Although hospitals and healthcare groups have praised parts of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, hospitals still face tough challenges when the 2014 regulations kick in. Although hospitals won’t have to bear as much of the cost of treating the uninsured, they still must comply with quality-care regulations to qualify for reimbursement. Payments will be based on readmission rates and patient satisfaction scores. Physicians will also be under the same guidelines. Starting in 2015, doctors will get paid for keeping their patients healthy not necessarily for every test and procedure.

Read how the ACA Impacts Hospitals Here.

How Does This Impact Travel Nurses?

As for the individual American, traveling nurse or otherwise, they will be required to secure health insurance under the new bill. The need for travel nurses to take permanent positions to secure full health insurance will no longer be an issue. Though most travel nursing agencies offer health insurance, travel nurses will also have the option to obtain insurance through federal subsidies or private insurance companies without being denied for pre-existing conditions.

Read our Approach to Insurance for Healthcare Travelers.

Though it will take up to two years for all the regulations in the healthcare reform bill to be in place, analysts say the Affordable Care Act will positively affect the nursing and physician’s field and the staffing agencies that employ them as the demand for healthcare workers will increase when an additional 30 million people become insured. As more people acquire health insurance, they are more likely to seek medical services, have necessary medical procedures and make regular doctor visits, creating a cascading effect in the healthcare staffing industry. With Registered Nurses already in short supply, the Federal Government is issuing additional education incentives and more Federal loans as a way to entice more students towards the medical field and hopefully ease the strain on the nursing industry.