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Of course he was, because you know better than a trusted MD just because you are a koolaid drinker. Aetna is one of the best providers, and doctors still take it without question. I wont take the time to explain what my doctor told me as to way he was dropping Aetna along with others, but it has to do with new averages based on Obamacare private insurance companies can pay via the exchanges. I am certainly going to believe him before some partisan internet hack who is trying to explain through the fence of a reeducation camp why this is best for us.
Aetna desirability for docs must be regional. In AZ it's meh, same as it ever was. As a doc I would have no idea if my patients new or old have exchange policies, unless for some reason they tell me. I service mainly a conservative population, and some come in apologizing for their Obamacare policy. I see no to little difference, and it just has not been an issue.
Far and away more docs have been dropped from plans and then more patient inconvenience has been created by the privates on the exchanges through their limiting of docs on their approved panels. Not from docs declining the plans.
Indeed they were and will continue to do so. Only difference is that now some blame it on Obamacare.
Why wouldn't they? Obama, et al, allowed the insurance industry to draft the bill:
Quote:
Originally Posted by InformedConsent
Let's remind everyone exactly who has voted AGAINST the House and Senate health care bills (R's), and who really runs Obama's government:
"If President Obama is going to succeed in passing health-care reform legislation this year, he’ll need to go through Ignagni. As president of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Ignagni is the voice for the companies that offer health, dental, disability and long-term care coverage to millions of Americans. She’ll play a key role in negotiating any legislation that changes the way those companies do business." https://web.archive.org/web/20090327231342/http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Karen_Ignagni
Why did the Dems pass a bill that benefits insurance companies and big pharma at taxpayers' expense, while the Republicans consistently voted against it?
Maybe your doctor paid attention to the AMA warning that providers might be stuck with non-payment of huge bills because of an Ocare provision giving a premium payment grace period to subsidized exchange plan enrollees:
"But if the patient does not pay his or her health insurance premiums in full before the end of the grace period, the health insurer will not extend coverage for the second or third months of the grace period and will deny claims for services provided during that time. In this case, a patient is then responsible for paying the entire bill for services rendered during the second and third months."
It is also vital that your practice proactively take steps to minimize any potential non-payments from health insurers that are due to cancellation of coverage at the end of the grace period."
Why wouldn't they? Obama, et al, allowed the insurance industry to draft the bill.
Why did the Dems pass a bill that benefits insurance companies and big pharma at taxpayers' expense, while the Republicans consistently voted against it?
Exactly. The system we had prior to obamacare was bad but this legislation only made it worse.
Indeed they were and will continue to do so. Only difference is that now some blame it on Obamacare.
Employers who offer healthcare insurance to their employees also change insurers with some frequency.
My former long time employer did so annually. This required the annual shuffle of medical records between MDs because the current plan PPO had different medical participants than the former PPO. This was ten years before the ACA.
Perhaps, but the problem is that people not eligible for medicaid have 2 options for coverage: be covered under an employer or go on an exchange plan. We're under an exchange plan (w no subsidies) and despite being with the same company from which we were covered privately, previously, my choice of drs has imploded. The reimbursements are just too low. This isn't about drs wanting to get rich, it's about drs being paid so little it's not worth it to see patients. So what you're left with are the kind of drs who accept medicaid and hope to make up for the low reimbursements with volume. Unless employer based insurance eventually disappears (which it might, more employers are doing things like offering medical savings accounts to purchase exchange plans) we are going to end up with a deeply stratified medical system where people insured through large employers have access to superior drs and hospitals than those covered via the exchanges.
What was happening before the ACA and now after is that insurance companies aren't paying a lot. It isn't really about Obamacare except that the insurance companies can only now charge so much and must cover so much that they are doing things like limiting physician networks (to the lower tier physician groups) in some areas, or not contracting with those who keep wanting more and more money. Again, it's NOT new, it was happening before and that why reform was needed. We didn't actually get reform, what we got was someone people now get help paying the premiums.Some companies did leave certain markets too, because they couldn't charge what they wanted.
I've had Dr's moving in and out of groups, plans, etc. since the 80's. I've had to switch Dr's a few times and our employee policy changed a few times. It's par for the course.
It's true that some physicians are pulling out of medical groups and becoming independent, or only contracting with insurance higher end insurance plans that aren't always available to the public because they are GROUP policies written exclusively for employers. I have such a plan and when I shop on the open market that company doesn't even offer insurance in my state. THAT is the two-tier system we have now. Private (including "obamacare") vs corporate. That was there before the ACA as well, I could NEVER buy the plan I have now on my own because it was never offered to individuals.
I know better because I don't rely on anecdotes from "trusted MDs" to make my opinion.
Your MD simply dropped Aetna and quoted ACA as an excuse while ACA has nothing to do with that: it's still a private insurer.
The AMA warned doctors they run a big risk of non-payment when treating subsidized exchange patients. Patients themselves report rejection for being in exchange plans. NPR and Kaiser Health News report on doctors refusing exchange members. On and on. But noooooo, they're all wrong, and for some reason you know better.
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