Posted on 09/23/2013 6:22:37 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
WASHINGTON — Federal officials often say that health insurance will cost consumers less than expected under President Obama’s health care law. But they rarely mention one big reason: many insurers are significantly limiting the choices of doctors and hospitals available to consumers.
From California to Illinois to New Hampshire, and in many states in between, insurers are driving down premiums by restricting the number of providers who will treat patients in their new health plans.
When insurance marketplaces open on Oct. 1, most of those shopping for coverage will be low- and moderate-income people for whom price is paramount. To hold down costs, insurers say, they have created smaller networks of doctors and hospitals than are typically found in commercial insurance. And those health care providers will, in many cases, be paid less than what they have been receiving from commercial insurers.
Some consumer advocates and health care providers are increasingly concerned. Decades of experience with Medicaid, the program for low-income people, show that having an insurance card does not guarantee access to specialists or other providers.
Consumers should be prepared for “much tighter, narrower networks” of doctors and hospitals, said Adam M. Linker, a health policy analyst at the North Carolina Justice Center, a statewide advocacy group.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
One of the things that is happening to my doctor clients: Networks are combining behind the scenes and docs are ending up in networks they know nothing about, did not agree to join and would never join because of the incredibly low reimbursement rate.
If this happens with enough doctors, managed plans will find themselves with no doctors for patients to see.
“Dr. Barbara L. McAneny, a cancer specialist in Albuquerque, said that insurers in the New Mexico exchange were generally paying doctors at Medicare levels, which she said were “often below our cost of doing business, and definitely below commercial rates.”
What’s the point of participating for providers if the reimbursement is below cost? This will be insurance in name only, access will be terrible, and the best solution will be the penalty for most middle and lower income folks.
Also, they've been telling us everyone can be insured now. In typical liberal fashion, they leave out that while you may have "insurance" per se, you may not be able to pay the copays or deductibles required to actually use it. But that doesn't matter. It's not about health. It's about the jackboot on your neck.
Communism never works.
The myth of lower premiums won’t survive the first year of Obamacare, nor will the economy.
the regime...never expected this bill to be used.
its was deisgned to further DIVIDE people
when word gets to the “underclass” that they are getting this BIG Freebie....because of middle class WORKING people...it wont be pretty and Obama doesnt want it to be.
the >”right” people< have gotten their chance at making it work this time ...and its already fallen flat on its behind. amazing that
He is evil I am afraid of him. Honestly it seems to me since he was elected in 2008 there has been constant turmoil and lots of big and bad things happening and I do not find them a coincidence.
Went to doctor today and was asked to sign off on new HIPA forms release. Asked doctor what the hell was this for? New government requirements for electronic forms and releasing of information if requested. WTF!!!!
Did not sign and told him would not sign. Told him to get on with his work and government can stay the hell out of my medical records. He proceeded without signature.
Anybody else run across this male bovine scat??
Oh, the irony of that website you linked. It says, on the side, that if a family of 3 has an income of $26,000 or less per year, they are eligible to sign up for Medi-Cal. Medi-Cal is the same program I grew up with—which has covered the poor in CA for as long as I can remember.
This idea that we needed some sort of massive federal government program to make sure everyone gets coverage has always been a lie. There have been programs to cover the most poor all along.
I buy insurance for my son. It started out at $160/mo (kind of expensive). Thanks to Obamacare, it has gone up to $233/mo (even more expensive). All I want is a policy that will cover emergencies... policies that cover everything just increase the cost of medical care.
“And all you have to do to get an exemption is to convert to Islam.”
Or become an illegal alien, government worker or politician.
I like to refer to Obama as the Troublemaker In Chief!!
never waste a good crisis ??
Rahm Emanuel: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste ..”.
the TURMOIL has its purposes in obmams scheme of things...
Here’s an aspirin, Comrade. We have met our Socialist responsibility. Go home now - whether you live or die is not our problem.
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