When selling his health care law to the American public, President Obama made a clear promise that, “No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will keep your doctor. Period.” However, Americans all across the country are now facing the scary reality that they may no longer be able to access the care from the doctor or hospital they currently have.
Access to Doctors and Hospitals Limited Across the Country
AP reports the new law is limiting patients’ access to doctors in hospitals across the country, citing New York, where “one of the world’s foremost cancer hospitals, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, is not ‘in network’ for any of the insurance plans on the state’s exchange.” One doctor, who is president of the medical staff at a hospital in New Hampshire, found that her plan does not even allow her to seek treatment at her own hospital, which is excluded from many plans in the state, a fact she calls “pretty disturbing.”
Children’s Hospitals Being Excluded from Plans
The Washington Post cites plans in the Exchanges that have excluded children’s hospitals in cities like Seattle, Houston and St. Louis. Jeffrey Blank, who lost his health insurance as a result of the law, found that under some of the new health plans, his family would no longer be able to take his daughter, suffering from a rare bone disorder, to the children’s hospital. The uncertainty of not being able to access your doctor or hospital hits American families hard. Blank stated, “It just stresses me….there’s this unknown.”
Seniors Losing Access to Their Doctor
Our nation’s seniors are rightly worried they may be the next victim of ObamaCare’s broken promises. As a result of the over $300 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage, the Wall Street Journal reports that, “UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation’s largest provider of privately managed Medicare Advantage plans, has dropped thousands of doctors from its networks in recent weeks.” UnitedHealth Group’s Chief Executive cited “expected cuts in Medicare payments tied to the Affordable Care Act” for the loss of doctors in their network.
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