2nd Shoe to Drop; Insurance Co. Drops Thousands of Doctors from Insurance Plans

[blackhawk]

Obamacare was designed to fail to push forward a single payer system.

Republicans must be in on the conspiracy then, since they're doing everything they can to prevent the ACA from succeeding.

Really how so? The Republicans didn't write the bill they did not vote for it were not in charge of setting up the website and they didn't go around telling the people if they liked their current insurance and doctor they could keep them period nor were they the ones who rewrote the rules to make that all but impossible.

 

[Jarlaxle]

This is going to get ugly...

This is ALREADY ugly!

 

[Jarlaxle]

Is this really a surprise? The economics of ObamaCare rely on people who don't need insurance to pay Beaucoup $$$ for coverage, and on health care professionals to provide services far below market rates (and often below their costs).

It's Economic Illiteracy on Parade.

ObamaCare is Not Health Care...it's just a Transfer Payment System to reward Big Government Cronies.

I suspect it was DESIGNED to fail (though probably not this spectacularly, this quickly), to usher in a full single-payer system.

We're fucked.

 

[Wry Catcher]

2nd Shoe to Drop; Insurance Co. Drops Thousands of Doctors from Insurance Plans

UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company's other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

The Journal report said that doctors in at least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing "significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment." According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.

Another top health insurer, Aetna Inc , also warned in October that it expected slowing growth in 2014 in its Medicare Advantage plans.

UnitedHealth drops thousands of doctors from insurance plans: WSJ

Remember the promise, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor? Not any more...
There will be a natural shortage of doctors and this will make it worse.

Doctors that don't like Obamacare are taking early retirement or refusing to take Medicare patients. This will exaggerate the problem.

Nice spin. Consider this and respond with evidence Obama or Obamacare has anything to do with the actions of the Health Insurance Industry:

http://www.mssny.org/medicare-sequestration-frequently-asked-questions.pdf

Place the blame solely on the coward Speaker Boehner.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Obamacare was designed to fail to push forward a single payer system.

I have been saying that pretty much since it was introduced.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

2nd Shoe to Drop; Insurance Co. Drops Thousands of Doctors from Insurance Plans

UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company's other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

The Journal report said that doctors in at least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing "significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment." According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.

Another top health insurer, Aetna Inc , also warned in October that it expected slowing growth in 2014 in its Medicare Advantage plans.

UnitedHealth drops thousands of doctors from insurance plans: WSJ

Remember the promise, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor? Not any more...
There will be a natural shortage of doctors and this will make it worse.

Doctors that don't like Obamacare are taking early retirement or refusing to take Medicare patients. This will exaggerate the problem.

And in other news President Obama's long form Kenyan birth certificate was found among the trash in Benghazi.

The death of Obamacare is an amusing sideshow. Watching some of you pray for failure is too precious.

 

[Papageorgio]

No one has to pray that this fails, Obama and the Democrats are doing really well without any help.

Mistakes, errors, higher prices, can't keep present policy, can't keep you same doctors, lies and more lies, the website not running right.

I just watch in amusement, I saw all this coming back when it was passed.

Apparently you just blindly followed the President and the other Democrats.

 

[itfitzme]

2nd Shoe to Drop; Insurance Co. Drops Thousands of Doctors from Insurance Plans

UnitedHealth Group dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks, leaving many elderly patients unsure whether they need to switch plans to continue seeing their doctors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The insurer said in October that underfunding of Medicare Advantage plans for the elderly could not be fully offset by the company's other healthcare business. The company also reported spending more healthcare premiums on medical claims in the third quarter, due mainly to government cuts to payments for Medicare Advantage services.

The Journal report said that doctors in at least 10 states were notified of being laid off the plans, some citing "significant changes and pressures in the healthcare environment." According to the notices, the terminations can be appealed within 30 days.

Another top health insurer, Aetna Inc , also warned in October that it expected slowing growth in 2014 in its Medicare Advantage plans.

UnitedHealth drops thousands of doctors from insurance plans: WSJ

Remember the promise, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor? Not any more...
There will be a natural shortage of doctors and this will make it worse.

Doctors that don't like Obamacare are taking early retirement or refusing to take Medicare patients. This will exaggerate the problem.

Medicare Advantage shouldn't even exist. It is a rip off of the Medicare program.

 

[JakeStarkey]

2nd Shoe to Drop; Insurance Co. Drops Thousands of Doctors from Insurance Plans

The health companies will provide new doctors as necessary for clients.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Obamacare was designed to fail to push forward a single payer system.

I have been saying that pretty much since it was introduced.

Really? Since you seem to know so much about it, please explain to me how a single payer system would work, and why Obama wants such a system?

 

[Flopper]

I have been anti-ACA before it ever became law but I also am very suspicious of the private healthcare insurance sector of doing all they can to sabotage any form of healthcare reform. I think their massive cancellations were motivated as a tool to make their point. I also believe that they really are on the offense and will do things that hurt the public to make their point.
There are no good guys in this game between Obama and the healthcare industry.

When UHC and Aetna decided to reduce the number of doctors in their network, it was not an attempt to sabotage the healthcare reform. Health insurance companies are expecting a 10 to 14% yearly growth rate over the next 5 years due in large part from the healthcare law. To understand what is really going on, you have to know a little bit about Medicare Advantage.

These plans are alternatives to traditional Medicare. When a senior joins one of these plans, they sign over their Medicare benefits to the insurance company who pays their healthcare costs plus offering some additional benefits that Medicare doesn't offer.

As a result of legislation during the Bush years, Medicare Advantage plans were subsidized by the government to the tune of 12% above what the government pays for regular Medicare beneficiaries plus the government pays some of the insurance companies operating expenses. The idea was that once these plans were established they would reduce Medicare costs and CMS would phase out the subsidy. What actually happened is costs did not go down but increased substantially, 1/4 of the Medicare beneficiaries signed up for these plans and the insurance companies repeated huge profits.

Years ago, CMS, who managed Medicare programs began trying to cut back on these subsidies, but yielded to political pressure. Language was incorporated in the ACA which required that the subsidy be phased out over the next 10 years and this is what we're seeing today.

The insurance companies are attempting to maintain their profit margins by reducing some benefits, raising premiums, and reducing costs. UHC and Aetna are reducing cost by eliminating some of the higher cost providers from their networks.

There is nothing in the ACA that forces insurance companies to reduce the number of doctors in their networks. Most companies are eliminating some of the benefits that regular Medicare does not pay and still others are raising premiums. These are business decisions made by the insurance companies.

 

[JakeStarkey]

2nd Shoe to Drop; Insurance Co. Drops Thousands of Doctors from Insurance Plans

The health companies will provide new doctors as necessary for clients.

And did you fail to tell us that the doctors can reapply?

 

[freedombecki]

2nd Shoe to Drop; Insurance Co. Drops Thousands of Doctors from Insurance Plans



UnitedHealth drops thousands of doctors from insurance plans: WSJ

Remember the promise, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor? Not any more...
There will be a natural shortage of doctors and this will make it worse.

Doctors that don't like Obamacare are taking early retirement or refusing to take Medicare patients. This will exaggerate the problem.

That IS, after all, the goal of O, Pelosi, Reid, and Sebelius and all the Dems who were coerced into voting for the [UN]affordable Care Act.

Boy, 39 of them sure walked back their vote yesterday when they voted for the GOP plan....( of course they are up for reelection in `14 )

failure on gun control and healthcare has had democrats back peddling on major issues twice in the same year

Yep!

Now, if they'd just acknowledge that a human being's life begins at conception, it would save a million American lives a year.