Why Almost 50 Percent Of Doctors Give Obamacare A "D" Or An "F"
(Perhaps because a "G" -- which I'd give it, per my experience related below -- isn't an actual grade.)
At The Hill, Jeffrey A. Singer, M.D., counts himself among the discontented:
Obamacare has harmed too many of my patients.It has done so by disrupting the doctor-patient relationship and thereby worsening the quality of patients' care. This is the heart and soul of medicine, as I have learned in in my 33 years as a practicing physician. The doctor-patient relationship is critical for positive health outcomes because it allows both parties to work together to identify and ultimately treat medical problems. Simply put, a relationship of trust and continuity is essential to our professional mission.
Obamacare's assault on the doctor-patient relationship first manifested this time last year, when my patients began receiving cancellation letters indicating that their plans didn't meet the law's minimum requirements.Some of my patients were transferred to plans that did not include me in the physician network. In some cases this meant they had to find another surgeon to assume care while they were recovering from the first stage of a multistage surgical course. Others were enrolled in one of the Medicaid plans in which I participate. These plans make it difficult for me to coordinate with other specialists when treating cancer and other complex surgical patients because of the scarcity and distance of other specialists in the plan. And some could only afford plans that significantly limited their health care options.
No matter which option they chose, Obamacare forced my patients to make trade-offs between pricing, access, and quality of care.
Read also how patients are forced onto Medicaid, where they get substandard care.
In The New York Times, Abby Goodnough and Robert Pear report a piece, "Unable to Meet the Deductible or the Doctor":
Patricia Wanderlich got insurance through the Affordable Care Act this year, and with good reason: She suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2011, spending weeks in a hospital intensive care unit, and has a second, smaller aneurysm that needs monitoring.But her new plan has a $6,000 annual deductible, meaning that Ms. Wanderlich, who works part time at a landscaping company outside Chicago, has to pay for most of her medical services up to that amount. She is skipping this year's brain scan and hoping for the best.
"To spend thousands of dollars just making sure it hasn't grown?" said Ms. Wanderlich, 61. "I don't have that money."
About 7.3 million Americans are enrolled in private coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and more than 80 percent qualified for federal subsidies to help with the cost of their monthly premiums. But many are still on the hook for deductibles that can top $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for families -- the trade-off, insurers say, for keeping premiums for the marketplace plans relatively low. The result is that some people -- no firm data exists on how many -- say they hesitate to use their new insurance because of the high out-of-pocket costs.
Insurers must cover certain preventive services, like immunizations, cholesterol checks and screening for breast and colon cancer, at no cost to the consumer if the provider is in their network. But for other services and items, like prescription drugs, marketplace customers often have to meet their deductible before insurance starts to help.
This is what's happened to me. A breast surgeon ordered me to get breast MRIs every couple of years a few years back. Before we got the "Affordable" Care Act shoved down our throats, I did this -- paying a $50 co-pay. Now, with Obamacare, my health care payment is not only unaffordable but I also have some multi-thousand-dollar deductible. So now, those MRIs will sock me for $700 -- which I can't afford to pay. I'm hoping eating low-carb and almost no sugar and leading what's probably a pretty healthy lifestyle will keep the cancer away.
So, I went from having very good care I could afford to not having the care doctors ordered for me because the "Affordable" Care Act made it unaffordable for me.
Thanks so much for voting for Obama. I'll name my tumor after you.
Hill link via @instapundit
Barry by Andreesson.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at October 18, 2014 11:13 PM
See this.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at October 18, 2014 11:13 PM
I've always said; if Obamacare was going to be so great then why did congress make sure that they would get to keep their own (taxpayer-funded) plan and be exempt from Obamacare?
Charles at October 19, 2014 5:10 AM
The little people get the little people's healthcare, Charles.
Amy Alkon at October 19, 2014 5:40 AM
Something else that they don't tell you about Obamacare is that it's The Hotel California. We've been trying to leave an exchange plan for close to three weeks now, without success.
Backstory: Like many, we were forced into the exchange when the premiums for our existing, private, plan went up (by 462% in our case). Recently, my wife changed jobs and we became eligible for an employer provided group plan - and therefore ineligible for exchange coverage.
So, we contacted our insurer (BCBSTX) and instructed them to cancel our policy effective the date that the new one commenced. They refused, saying that we had to cancel trough the exchange, by logging in and clicking "the red button". We tried that - there is no red button.
I searched the exchange for a solution, but could only find more advice to click the red button. There is still no red button.
About the only thing left to try is to call the no-helpline and see whether somebody in a call center can cancel it. Meanwhile we still count as "enrolled" and the subsidies continue to flow - which is, presumably, the real point of the exercise.
theotherrob at October 19, 2014 5:49 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/10/19/why_almost_50_p.html#comment-5279132">comment from theotherrobtheotherrob, that is so horrible.
A question: If you try this on a PC or a Mac -- whatever kind of computer you aren't using -- or a different browser, does it work.
Amy Alkon at October 19, 2014 7:26 AM
Thanks so much for voting for Obama. I'll name my tumor after you.
They were hoping for free healthcare, paid for by somebody else.
PS Libertarians, please run somebody electable.
Amy, like you, I'm libertarian. But isn't anybody nominated by the Libertarian party (or any third party) unelectable by definition?
Jim Simon at October 19, 2014 9:37 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/10/19/why_almost_50_p.html#comment-5280070">comment from Jim SimonJust tweeted about that, Jim Simon. They have a habit of nominating the charisma-free and unelectable.
Amy Alkon at October 19, 2014 9:41 AM
"PS Libertarians, please run somebody electable."
I am right there with you.
Daghain at October 19, 2014 10:29 AM
"They have a habit of nominating the charisma-free and unelectable."
Epic beards and conspiracy theories do not an electable candidate make.
But check these other candidates out for a chuckle.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at October 19, 2014 12:52 PM
> They have a habit of nominating
> the charisma-free and unelectable.
What's the difference?
Listen, once we decide to indulge a voters need for charisma, all is lost.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at October 19, 2014 1:28 PM
^^Amen, Crid. It's an aspect of human nature we may not like, but it's true. Most of them will go for whatever free shit is promised them. I was having a conversation with a couple of people recently, about the sorry state of the union. I said don't blame me, I voted for Ron Paul. The female half of the couple said that although she agreed with everything he said, she felt like it was a wasted vote because he couldn't win. Nobody told me Denny's was giving out free breakfasts for those who voted for the winning candidate.
I myself am self-employed with a high deductible plan. I have a health savings account with a balance sufficient to cover the deductible and basically all my normal expenses (dental, mainly - teeth cleanings) that the insurance doesn't cover. Premiums are nearly $200 a month on top of me having to cover everything myself.
You know what? If I get cancer, I'll die of cancer. I'd rather not even know. I haven't been to a doctor in YEARS. Nearly a decade. Costs a fortune.
Pirate Jo at October 19, 2014 2:46 PM
"once we decide to indulge a voters need for charisma, all is lost."
That's already happened, though... it goes back to JFK.
Cousin Dave at October 20, 2014 12:03 PM
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