Obamacare Gets an F from Doctors
The magazine Medical Economics recently graded Obamacare and here is how they did it:
Our editorial staff, with the assistance of our physician advisers, selected eight provisions and consequences (both intentional and unintentional) stemming from the law. Policy analysts provided their thoughts on how Obamacare has shaped the last six years. Then we asked physicians from our editorial advisory board, our 200-member Reader Reactor Panel (comprised of physician readers nationwide who help direct our content), and our e-newsletter subscribers to grade the various elements based on their own experiences. Each physician ranked each element in terms of how it assisted their day-to-day work as physicians on a score from 0 (not at all) to 10 (extremely helpful). The average of all respondents was used to derive the letter grade. Physicians also offered short justifications for their ranking.
The results?
- Medicare bonus for primary care services = F
- Medicare – Medicaid parity = F
- Increased coverage through healthcare insurance exchanges = F
- Narrow networks = F
- Accountable care organizations = F
- Outcomes based reimbursement = F
- Physician ratings through the Physician Compare website = F
- Expansion of health IT = F
But wait, President Obama says it has been a great thing. I am confused?
Fellow physicians, put your money where your mouth is. Without being too political, as I am no Trump fan, but do you really think Hillary will make this travesty better?
But wait, there are 10 million more insured, doesn’t that count for something?
Oh, the fact that most Americans still can’t afford healthcare is just a minor problem.
I am happy to say I did not vote for Mr. Obama either time.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2015/05/14/how-many-people-has-obamacare-really-insured/#718e22d9777f
1. Those newly “insured” were made so in a sweetheart deal with the insurance industry, raising rates drastically on those of us already insured. That is known as wealth transfer, taking from some to give to others – effectively, it was theft. So your newly “insured” were used to jack up the deductibles and premiums on many more tens of millions, and pushing many more in number toward financial extremis than those already uninsured. So how is that a net advantage?
2. The ACA did not create a single new physician, nurse, or hospital bed. Not one! It has increased the administrative overhead on small rural hospitals like those I work in, making our survival more tenuous. The ACA mandates have increased the daily costs for single physician offices to the point where some have quit (I personally know some), further increasing the strain on those who remain, and on local ER’s.
3. The ACA wedded the bad concepts of government health care and crony corporatism to create a more pervasive, invasive, faster-growing civic tumor that is accelerating us toward dumber, costlier, worse health ‘care’, for lack of a better word.
You don’t have to convince me Pat, I was being facetious. ACA is a really bad deal.
LOL, yeah I know, I was just on a tear, I certainly didn’t think you were cheering this mess!
It’s easy to get on a tear isn’t it? (:
Our hospital administrator did a study on health care coverage in our rural community. Many of our patients are self employed farmers, Medicare recipients (average age in our community is 67). Many young families are Amish who try to avoid as many government interactions as possible.
The results show Medicaid coverage was down, Medicare unchanged, employer supplied were high deductible with limited benefits and self insured was way down. Nebraska did not expand Medicaid.
Net result was fewer and less comprehensive coverage.
Losers: patients, doctors, rural hospitals.
Winners: insurance companies
I don’t trust government numbers since the data is massaged to show what is politically expedient.
Once again, you warned us, Doug. My college philosophy prof commented that pessimists are rarely disappointed.
If government agencies are reassured, and are confident in what they are doing, then they are following their own agenda and being dishonest with the public on what they are really up to.
Obamacare has brought American healthcare far closer to the NHS model, while directing it IRREVERSIBLY to become a corporate, retail structure. It will be an ancillary service of Wal-Mart, like the pharmacies, within three years. They have the gold medal.