This is where the rationing and long waiting lines start
(Washington Examiner) An estimated seven out of every 10 physicians in deep-blue California are rebelling against the state’s Obamacare health insurance exchange and won’t participate, the head of the state’s largest medical association said.
“It doesn’t surprise me that there’s a high rate of nonparticipation,†said Dr. Richard Thorp, president of the California Medical Association.
Thorp has been a primary care doctor for 38 years in a small town 90 miles north of Sacramento. The CMA represents 38,000 of the roughly 104,000 doctors in California.
“We need some recognition that we’re doing a service to the community. But we can’t do it for free. And we can’t do it at a loss. No other business would do that,†he said.
Well, Obamacare supporters, Liberals, actually do expect doctors and medical centers to provide care for free/at a loss, since they believe profit (for other people) is evil, and that health care is a Right. Anyhow, why are the docs opting out?
California offers one of the lowest government reimbursement rates in the country — 30 percent lower than federal Medicare payments. And reimbursement rates for some procedures are even lower. (snip)
Only in September did insurance companies disclose that their rates would be pegged to California’s Medicaid plan, called Medi-Cal. That’s driven many doctors to just say no.
So California was already in trouble prior to Obamacare, and is now worse, especially with so many moved to Medicaid rather than regular insurance. There was already a shortage of doctors, now the available pool has shrunk even further, meaning many folks a) won’t be able to keep their doctor and b) they’ll have long waiting lines, and may have to travel farther to find visit a doctor. It also means that the specialist pool will be severely restricted.
No one is more aware of this than Alex Briscoe, health director for Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, which includes Oakland.
“Enrollment doesn’t mean access, because there aren’t enough doctors to take the low rates of Medicaid,†he said. “There aren’t enough primary care physicians, period.â€
As many have noted, one of the big problems with Obamacare is that it focused on cost, rather than coverage, meaning that they attempted to drive down costs while forcing folks to obtain health insurance. By focusing on cost you end up with restricted access. And, interestingly, individual costs, premiums, deductibles, etc, actually rose. On the back end, though, they are nickle and diming everything, leading to issues as brought up in the article.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
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in preparation for their opening performance on Sunday.
