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.
Curiouser and curiouser. Conservatives are now arguing for larger deficits and increased government spending! Is there any argument a rightist will not reverse in their fight against obamaism? Death Panels!!
It seems obvious that as we bring more and more Americans out of the healthcare shadows so they can obtain affordable, quality healthcare that there will be greater demand for services! But since this directly benefits poor people, conservatives oppose it. Where’s your plan? We should allow more foreign physicans into the US to do the work that American doctors won’t do.
By far, the largest challenge we face to our long term fiscal soundness is our spending on healthcare, which is double what other advanced nations spend. Now, The Pirate is whining that we’re cutting those costs! Pirate: What would you do to cut our healthcare spending?
Jeff,
Where do you get these thoughts? How do you come to the conclusion that conservatives are so mean? All of the conservatives that I know are very active in organizations that try to help the poor. On the other hand, I know a number of liberals and they talk about helping folks but they don’t give the money to do so, they want the government to do it (which is cruel when you have to deal with the government in these matters), and they desire to keep the people poor and not provide a path to independence.
Now, I have been in medicine for 40 years and have never, ever seen a person in the US that did not get care by the system or had their house taken or was “in the shadows”. We must have some big shadows around the US with the poor being there and the illegals aliens. Now, a little education, it is against the law in the US to give free care! Also, Medicaid only pays about $7 for the average patient visit. That is not enough money to cover the billing. But, still doctors took Medicaid patients as they knew the people needed help. Now with Obamacare, they feel that with government intrusion and socialization, then the government can deal with the consequences of its stupidity. Then, the great ACA, it is only an insurance policy. It has nothing to do with providing reimbursement for medical care. The premiums are higher than most people I deal with can afford and the deductibles are in a range that prevents the average person from getting the care they need in making their medical economic decisions. I know, as I have to deal with this daily–do you?.
Then foreign doctors, I used to teach doctors. Foreign doctors are a poor substitute for American educated physicians. They will even admit it. So, there will be an effort to use foreign doctors and PA’s (note that PA are not nurses and only receive 2 years of education-they don’t even have to have college). The quality of care will drop like a stone, but you will never know as your handlers will never tell you different.
By the way, do you ever research your talking points or just pull them from KOS?
J-The poor aren’t denied care, professor Jeffery. A few years ago the CBO estimated tehere would be 54 million uninsured without Obamacare. After passage, they estimated there would be 22 million uninsured. Their latest estimate now is that there will be 31million uninsured by 2019. So much for universal healthcare.
[…] The Pirate’s Cove: 70% Of California Doctors Say “NO†To Obamacare By William Teach December 7, 2013 – 6:55 […]