Obamacare trouble at the doctor's office

You can't keep your doctor and you may have trouble finding one that will take your crappy Obamacare insurance.

A month into the most sweeping changes to healthcare in half a century, people are having trouble finding doctors at all, getting faulty information on which ones are covered and receiving little help from insurers swamped by new business.
Experts have warned for months that the logjam was inevitable. But the extent of the problems is taking by surprise many patients — and even doctors — as frustrations mount.
Aliso Viejo resident Danielle Nelson said Anthem Blue Cross promised half a dozen times that her oncologists would be covered under her new policy. She was diagnosed last year with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and discovered a suspicious lump near her jaw in early January.
But when she went to her oncologist's office, she promptly encountered a bright orange sign saying that Covered California plans are not accepted.
"I'm a complete fan of the Affordable Care Act, but now I can't sleep at night," Nelson said. "I can't imagine this is how President Obama wanted it to happen."
To hold down premiums under the healthcare law, major insurers have sharply cut the number of doctors and hospitals available to patients in the state's new health insurance market. Read it all...

Tweet of the Day: New signs appearing in Doctor's Offices...

Change...

Signs Going Up In Drs Offices Across America! Thanks @BarackObama "You Can Keep Your Dr" #RedNationRising pic.twitter.com/iR25sFn1wo
— RedNationRising (@RedNationRising) December 7, 2013

Get ready for the Obamacare doctor shortage...

Republicans waned about this. Everything else they warned about has come true...

WASHINGTON — Many doctors are disturbed that they’ll be paid less – often a lot less – to care for the millions of patients who are projected to buy coverage through the health law’s new insurance marketplaces.
Some have complained to medical associations – including those in Texas, California, Georgia, Connecticut and New York – saying the discounted rates could lead to a two-tiered system in which fewer doctors participate, perhaps making it harder for consumers to get the care they need.
“As it is, there is a shortage of primary care physicians in the country, and they don’t have enough time to see all the patients who are calling them,” said Peter Cunningham, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington.
If providers are paid less, he said, “Are (enrollees) going to have difficulty getting physicians to accept them as patients?”
Insurance officials acknowledge that they have reduced rates in some plans, saying they are under enormous pressure to keep premiums affordable. They say physicians will make up for the lower pay by seeing more patients, since the plans tend to have smaller networks of doctors.
But many primary care doctors say they barely have time to take care of the patients they have now.

Obamacare making doctors queasy...

Obama promised change...

Via The NY Post:

New York doctors are feeling queasy about ObamaCare — and many won’t participate in the new national insurance program because they fear they’ll go broke, The Post has learned.
“ObamaCare is going to send me more patients to see and then cut the payments to provide the care — that’s what’s going to happen,” predicted Donald Moore, a primary-care doctor in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. “I will not accept it.”
Moore claims that President Obama made a big mistake by requiring uninsured residents to obtain medical coverage from for-profit insurers through the ObamaCare health exchanges instead of through public health programs like Medicaid.
Under tremendous pressure to keep costs down and profits up, Moore said he’s concerned that commercial insurers will pay doctors less for patient visits and services than either Medicaid or Medicare.

Preview of Things to Come: Half of primary care physicians in Massachusetts are not accepting new patients

Democrats claim they modeled Obamacare on Romneycare in Massachusetts. We can expect this nationwide in a couple of years or less.

Via The Boston Globe:

KATHRYN QUIRK THOUGHT it would be easy to find a new doctor when she moved from Boston to Newton in 2009, just like it was when she arrived in Boston in 1996. Back then, she walked across the street to a doctor’s office and got an appointment.
It isn’t 1996 anymore. Quirk still hasn’t found a primary care doctor she feels comfortable with. Her quest sounds a lot like dating; in four years she’s had three doctors and has sometimes preferred to get care from physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners who work in those doctors’ offices. With three kids, a husband, and a job, Quirk doesn’t have endless time to look. She’s frustrated that it took her four months to find her first doctor in Newton. When she didn’t connect with that physician, she was able to switch to one she liked. But his practice stopped taking her insurance, and Quirk has needed a good chunk of this year to land a replacement doctor. She felt relief in September when she found one who was accepting new patients, but that was only the first hurdle. She won’t find out whether she likes this new doctor for a while; she couldn’t get an appointment until April 2014.

Feel Good Story: Doctors who gave Wisconsin anti-Walker protestors sick notes fined up to $4000

20 doctors were disciplined and 11 were fined for handing out fake sick note during the protests against Gov. Walker's bill to strip union bargaining rights from public employee unions in Wisconsin .

Madison - The state medical school disciplined 20 doctors and fined 11 of them up to $4,000 for handing out sick notes to demonstrators at last year's labor protests, newly released records show.

The records, requested by the Journal Sentinel last year under the state's open records law, show for the first time the extent of the discipline given to those doctors by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

In several cases, doctors in more senior positions within the school also had to step away from those roles for a period of four months over one year. All the doctors were warned that further actions could result in them being fired.

"In the future, you are expected to adhere to the appropriate standards of doctor/patient interaction," the letters sent to doctors in May and June of last year read.

The discipline records show that the physicians disciplined in most cases insisted they had acted correctly even when accepting the discipline, saying they believed they were helping public employees under stress rather than writing fake sick notes to allow demonstrators to skip work and keep protesting. Read more here...

21-year-old emerges from coma as doctors prepare to part him out

File this under: Do not always trust your doctors.

Via Yahoo News:

Sam Schmid, an Arizona college student believed to be brain dead and poised to be an organ donor, miraculously recovered just hours before doctors were considering taking him off life support. 

Schmid, a junior and business major at the University of Arizona, was critically wounded in an Oct. 19 five-car accident in Tucson.

 

The 21-year-old's brain injuries were so severe that the local hospital could not treat him. He was airlifted to the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Phoenix, where specialists performed surgery for a life-threatening aneurysm. 

As hospital officials began palliative care and broached the subject of organ donation with his family, Schmid began to respond, holding up two fingers on command. Today he is walking with the aid of a walker, and his speech, although slow, has improved. 

Doctors say he will likely have a complete recovery. He even hopes to get a day pass from the hospital to celebrate the holidays with his large extended family.

Obama Spying on Doctors

He is sending out teams of "mystery shoppers" to spy on doctors. I hope they all get prostrate exams.

Obama administration officials are putting together a team of 'mystery shoppers' to pose as patients, call doctors’ offices and request appointments to see how difficult it is for people to get care when they need it.

The move follows increasing alarm over the shortage of primary care doctors.

The administration says the survey will address the shortage and try to discover whether doctors are accepting patients with private insurance while turning away those in government health programmes that pay lower reimbursement rates.

Federal officials predict that more than 30 million Americans will gain coverage under the health care law passed last year.

Megyn Kelly Lays The Smack-down On Quack Wisconsin Doctors and Unions

Enjoy!

Poll: two-thirds of U.S. doctors surveyed fear healthcare reform could worsen care for patients

Basically, the time you get to spend with your doctor is going to be shortened. Under Obamacare, doctors will be forced to see more patients for less money per patient. They will have to cycle more people through their offices to keep up with demand and maintain revenue. There may also be long wait times for patients. Thanks, President Obama and Democrats.

(CNBC)- Nearly two-thirds of U.S. doctors surveyed fear healthcare reform could worsen care for patients, by flooding their offices and hurting income, according to a Thomson Reuters survey released Tuesday.

The survey of more than 2,900 doctors found many predict the legislation will force them to work harder for less money.

“When asked about the quality of healthcare in the U.S. over the next five years, 65 percent of the doctors believed it would deteriorate with only 18 percent predicting it would improve,” Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters, said in a statement.

Bye Bye Doc

Will your doctor quit if Obamacare passes. There is a 30% chance.

If Obamacare becomes law, about 30 percent of the primary care doctors in America will consider leaving the medical profession.

That bit of brightness comes from a survey by The Medicus Firm, the results of which were posted by The New England Journal of Medicine. Medicus interviewed more than a thousand American physicians, and 55 percent of them believe the quality of medical care in America will decline if the Democrats pass the current health care reform proposals. Apparently, many of them want no part of it.

Obama Astroturfed White House Doctor Photo Op

President Obama invited a bunch of friendly doctors to the White House for a pro health care reform photo op. Some of the doctors forgot their white coats. That wasn't a problem. Obama had some ready to hand out.

The New York Post reported:

WASHINGTON -- President Obama yesterday rolled out the red carpet -- and handed out doctors' white coats as well, just so nobody missed his hard-sell health-care message.

In a heavy-handed attempt at reviving support for health-care reform, the White House orchestrated a massive photo op to buttress its claim that front-line physicians support Obama.

Will Obamacare lead to lottery for doctor like Canada? (video)

If you think a government run health care plan is a good thing, consider what is happening in Canada. One town in Canada (Norwood) has a lottery every month to see who will get to see the doctor. There is a five year waiting list. Pass Obamacare and we can have long waits and long lines for health care here in America too.

From Fox News Business:

There aren't enough doctors to make Obamacare work

Obamacare supporters claim that giving everyone insurance will reduce the use of the emergency room at the local hospital and there will be a huge cost savings. This seems on the surface to be a logical argument. Going to a primary care physician is a lot cheaper than the hospital emergency department. Will this change actually save money on emergency hospital visits? Let's examine Massachusetts which enacted legislation the in 2006 that much of Obamacare is modeled after. Massachusetts has a 97% insurance coverage rate and the highest highest concentration of doctors in the US. Strangely, emergency room visits have increased by 7% since insurance coverage was dramatically increased in Massachusetts. Why is this? Even though Massachusetts has the highest concentration of doctors nationwide, there aren't enough to cover the influx of new patients. Wait times have dramatically increased. If Obamacare is passed, this doctor shortage will be worse in the rest of the country. Long waiting lines are a form of rationing.

From CNN:

(CNN) -- When President Obama recently cited the number of Americans without health insurance, he declared that, "We are not a nation that accepts nearly 46 million uninsured men, women, and children."

Uninsured patients often delay preventive care, waiting to seek medical attention only when their conditions worsen. This leads to more intensive treatment, often in the emergency department or hospital where costs run the highest.

Universal health coverage is therefore a sensible goal, and the reforms being considered all make considerable effort to provide everyone with affordable health care.

But expanding coverage cannot succeed as long as there remains a shortage of primary care clinicians.

After all, what good is having health insurance if you can't find a doctor to see you?

Massachusetts is often held out as a model for national health reform, and the bills being considered in Washington emulate much of that state's 2006 landmark universal coverage law. As a physician in neighboring New Hampshire, I have had the opportunity to observe the effect of the Massachusetts reforms.

Today, 97 percent of Massachusetts residents have health insurance, the highest in the country. But less publicized are the unintended consequences that the influx of half a million newly insured patients has had on an unprepared primary care system.

The Massachusetts Medical Society reported that the average wait time for a new patient looking for a primary care doctor ranged from 36 to 50 days, with almost half of internal medicine physicians closing their doors entirely to new patients. And when you consider that Massachusetts already has the highest concentration of doctors nationwide, wait times will likely be worse in other, less physician-abundant parts of the country, should universal coverage be enacted federally.

When patients are forced to wait weeks to obtain medical care, they inevitably find their way into the emergency department for treatment that ordinarily can be handled in a doctor's office. Indeed, since health reform was passed, according to state data provided to the Boston Globe, Massachusetts emergency rooms have reported a 7 percent increase in volume, which markedly inflates costs when you consider that emergency room treatment can be up to 10 times more expensive than an office visit for the same ailment.

Obama accuses doctors of wanting to hack off body parts for money

From the New Hampshire Town Hall:


The AMA responds:

We agree with President Obama on the importance of prevention. However, a recent example used to illustrate his important point was misleading. Surgeons are not paid $30,000 to $50,000 to amputate a diabetic’s foot. Medicare pays a surgeon, on average, from $541.72 to $708.71 for one of two procedures involving a foot amputation. It is possible that the total bill, hospital stay, rehabilitation, prosthesis, etc. may approach the larger amount mentioned.

In the case of tonsillectomies, a patient is referred to a surgeon after medication therapy has proven to be ineffective. Actually, the medical profession itself recognized questions about utilization and appropriateness of tonsillectomies and took action by developing clinical guidelines, which has resulted in a sharp decline in the rate of tonsillectomies.

These types of examples create the impression that physicians are motivated by payment levels rather than what is best for patients. The AMA will continue to stress to our elected leaders that physicians are dedicated to putting patients first and optimizing health care quality.

ObamaCare Supporters Pretend to be Doctors at Town Halls

Roxana Mayer claimed she was a pediatric primary care physician at Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's town hall meeting. There several problems here. She is not a doctor and has never been a doctor. She is a graduate student in social work. She does not live in Rep. Lee's district and she came to the meeting because she was an Obama state delegate and been notified of the meeting by email. More information here.

Doctors Boo Obama (video)

Doctors Boo Obama

From RealClearPolitics:

President Obama says he will not place caps malpractice awards: "Now, I recognize that it will be hard to make some of these changes if doctors feel like they're constantly looking over their shoulders for fear of lawsuits. I recognize that. (Applause.) Don't get too excited yet. Now, I understand some doctors may feel the need to order more tests and treatments to avoid being legally vulnerable. That's a real issue. (Applause.) Now, just hold on to your horses here, guys. (Laughter.) I want to be honest with you. I'm not advocating caps on malpractice awards -- (boos from some in audience) -- (laughter) -- which I personally believe can be unfair to people who've been wrongfully harmed."

Doctors and health care lobbyists were warned not to meet with Republicans

Democrats warned doctors and health care lobbyist not to meet with Republicans on health care reform legislation. They were told, "Republicans are having this meeting and you need to let all of your clients know if they have someone there, that will be viewed as a hostile act." Unbelievable. What kind of country are we living in now? Roll Call reported:

Top aides to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) called a last-minute, pre-emptive strike on Wednesday with a group of prominent Democratic lobbyists, warning them to advise their clients not to attend a meeting with Senate Republicans set for Thursday.

Russell Sullivan, the top staffer on Finance, and Jon Selib, Baucus’ chief of staff, met with a bloc of more than 20 contract lobbyists, including several former Baucus aides.

“They said, ‘Republicans are having this meeting and you need to let all of your clients know if they have someone there, that will be viewed as a hostile act,’” said a Democratic lobbyist who attended the meeting.

“Going to the Republican meeting will say, ‘I’m interested in working with Republicans to stop health care reform,’” the lobbyist added.

Republican leaders have been meeting with health care stakeholders for months, with those sessions occurring “more frequently than once a month,” according to a senior Senate GOP aide.

Wondering what Obama's national health care will look like? Then check out Boston, where the wait for a doctor can be more than a year

National health insurance may flood the system with new patients. This may cause very long delays in your ability to schedule an appointment at many doctor's offices. Boston.com is reporting:

Despite Boston's abundance of top-notch medical specialists, the waits to see dermatologists, obstetrician-gynecologists, and orthopedic surgeons for routine care have grown longer - to as much as a year for the busiest doctors.

A study of five specialties shows that the wait for a nonurgent appointment in the Boston area has increased in the past five years, and now averages 50 days - more than three weeks longer than in any other city studied.

Patients in Boston and other areas of Massachusetts for years have faced notoriously long delays, according to earlier surveys of physicians' offices. A number of factors contribute, doctors said, but the 2006 health insurance law, which has required hundreds of thousands of state residents to obtain coverage, probably has worsened the waits.

"We had a bus that was pretty full, and then we invited more people on the bus," said Dr. Gene Lindsey, president of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a large physicians group. "Now people are standing in the aisles."

Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, a Texas-based consulting and physician recruiting firm, surveyed 1,162 doctors' offices in 15 metropolitan areas, trying to replicate what new patients would experience if they were searching for a doctor for a nonurgent appointment, including a heart checkup, a skin exam to detect possible cancer, knee injury or pain, a gynecological exam, and a complete physical exam.

Boston had the longest delays to see dermatologists, obstetrician-gynecologists, and family practitioners, and was second after Dallas in delays to see orthopedic surgeons. Waits increased since 2004 for appointments with dermatologists, obstetrician-gynecologists, and orthopedic surgeons, but patients can get in faster now to see cardiologists; Boston ranked fourth in waits for heart doctors, behind Minneapolis, Miami, and San Diego. The company did not survey family practitioners in 2004.

Average times to get appointments with doctors in Boston ranged from 21 days for cardiologists to 70 days for obstetrician-gynecologists. But when surveyers called, some dermatology and family practice offices said they couldn't get an appointment for a year.

The survey did not address whether delays hurt patients, or why Boston is generally worse than other cities.

But the authors also pointed to the more than 400,000 newly insured residents flooding doctors' offices, and said the long waits in Boston "may signal what could happen nationally in the event that access to healthcare is expanded through healthcare reform.