In Seattle, Insurers And Hospitals Complain About New Rules

Kaiser Health News ^ | April 23, 2014 | By Carol Ostrom, Seattle Times

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Health insurers and hospitals, usually on opposite sides, lined up together Tuesday to give Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler an earful about his proposed new rule for insurance-provider networks.

Kreidler proposed the rule after complaints that consumers have been taken by surprise about narrower networks in insurance plans offered in the Affordable Care Act. Those networks exclude some of the region’s prominent hospitals and medical centers, meaning some consumers don’t have access to providers they expected to use.

For example, only one insurer offering plans through the Washington Healthplanfinder online exchange includes Seattle Cancer Care Alliance in Seattle; only three include Seattle Children’s, which has filed a lawsuit over the issue.

Kreidler says his new rule is designed to make it easier for consumers to discover which hospitals and providers are in the network for a plan they are considering buying. Out-of-network care, he and others note, can cost considerably more.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

FORWARD COMRADES!!

[JPG]

Too bad. You wanted it, now you've got it. Enjoy your bed.

[Lorianne]

“Health insurers and hospitals, usually on opposite sides ... “

Uh, no. They are not on opposite sides. Never have been They are both rent seekers to government to get special perks for themselves at the expense of medical consumers.

[rjsimmon]

Too bad. You wanted it, now you've got it. Enjoy your bed.

Amen. They probably shouted for joy so loud that they may have caused an earthquake.

[proudpapa]

And the Washington State exchange is often touted as the #1 example of Obamacare “success”.

Lol.

[USNBandit]

The governor is running around bragging about 600,000 enrollees in the new healthcare system. The devil is in the details. 160,000 enrolled in an insurance plan. Just under 300,000 qualified for the. Medicaid expansion. 150,000 qualified for. Medicaid under the old criteria, therefore the state eats all those costs.

Their great success is a mandatory program where 75% of enrollees qualifiy for Medicaid.

[USNBandit]

One other thing. Nobody has released the percentage of the 160,000 getting insurance that used to have insurance before getting their coverage cut.

[Jack Hammer]

Healthcare in America has now been overcome by one fixed and irrefutable rule: anything the government touches immediately turns to sh*t.