A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld most aspects of the health care reform law. Though this result was not unexpected in the health care community, the way it happened was a bit of a surprise with Chief Justice Roberts acting as the deciding vote.

There is much speculation about why and when he made his decision, but the result is still the same.

So what does this mean for us in Newton and in Iowa? Much of Skiff Medical Center’s strategic plan for the next four years was based on the assumption that the Medicare demonstration program established by the health care reform law, and which completely changed how we are paid for inpatient care, would remain.