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38 2014 Economic Forecast www.wbjournal.com Worcester Business Journal e Source for Business News & Information in the Central Mass. Region Don't Miss A BeAt! Call today for information on how to get your company's message in front of the region's business leaders, contact: Mark Murray, Associate Publisher • 508.755.8004 x227 • mmurray@wbjournal.com Your business deserves a powerful presence in Central Mass. in Print • online • in Person UPcoMing issUes January 6 January 20 February 3 February 17 March 3 March 17 March 31 April 14 April 21 April 28 May 12 May 26 June 9 June 23 Real Estate - The Commercial Report Best of Business (BOB) Banking & Finance Technology Health Care & Wellness Meetings Guide & Golf Directory Business Leaders of the Year Green Business Business Profiles & Milestones Education: MBA Programs & Trends Central Mass. 100 Entrepreneurship/Innovation/Small Business Family Business Awards Regional Focus: Worcester Contact 508-849-3234 for more information. M A N Y P A T H S . O N E G O A L . E X C E L L E N C E . 50 Sunset Lane, Paxton, MA | www.annamaria.edu Stretch your mind... Expand your possibilities. are endless with our Graduate and Continuing Education programs. Our small class sizes allow for AT A N N A M A R I A C O L L E G E , Y O U C A N G E T A H E A D . . want to stay home," said James Fuccione, director of legislative and public affairs at the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts, a Boston-based trade group of home care agencies. But opportunity is tempered by a dif- ficult funding picture, which will con- tinue through 2014 and beyond, according to Fuccione. A confluence of federal funding factors has reduced Medicare reimbursements to home health agencies. Those factors include sequestration cuts, home health fund- ing cuts to pay for provisions of the ACA, and annual downward Medicare payment adjustments, Fuccione said. Private-pay home health agencies aren't impacted by these cuts, and many exist- ing home health businesses are explor- ing the private pay side of the business as a way to counteract dwindling fed- eral reimbursements. Changes Among Private Insurers The ACA has also forced private health insurers to adjust plans to meet coverage and cost require- ments before major aspects of the law take effect in 2014. At the same time, state cost-containment regulations limit annual premium increases, and that has prompted insurers to tweak their operations. For example, Tufts Health Plan of Watertown, which insures 118,000 in Central Massachusetts, opened an office in downtown Worcester in November. That office acts in part as an information center as Tufts works to transition low-income members to insurance plans that meet ACA requirements. And Worcester-based Fallon Community Health Plan laid off 62 employees in November, citing "new challenges" in the market. In July, Fallon CEO Patrick Hughes told the Boston Business Journal that cost- containment regulations would likely equal job cuts. Continued ACA Growing Pains Technical problems mired the launch of the federal ACA website this fall, and the Obama administration has delayed until 2015 portions of the law, including the mandate that employers with at least 50 employees provide insurance or pay penalties. At the same time, technical problems will continue to hamper enrollment through online health exchanges in the coming year. And with mid-term elections in November, it's possible the administra- tion will further tweak the ACA's imple- mentation to gain favor from voters who may be critical of the law. n Reform's Long Reach: ACA Also Means 'Alliances, Cuts and Adjustments' Health Care >> Continued From Page 26 4 5