WASHINGTON — Republicans have for years pummeled the Affordable Care Act by arguing that it has limited people’s choice of doctors. President Trump and his deputies have deployed that line in the last few weeks as they push to overhaul the law.
“They had their doctor, they had their plan,” Trump told a group of conservatives gathered near the nation’s capital late last month. “You can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan. Over and over and over again, you heard it.”
I just love the headline on this article. Can I Keep My Doctor? Ha! Will you please TAKE my doctor? My wife’s physician, a Board-Certified Oncologist killed my wife because he either: 1. Failed to read a pathologist report; or, 2. Is blithely unaware of what constitutes a proper biopsy when lymphoma is suspected. So, he made an assumption and treated her with the wrong chemotherapy regimen. She died about three months post-diagnosis. Oh, he also lied in the medical record and said that we had refused a second biopsy. I will let you make the call here: How many people with an IQ over 30 would refuse to allow an oncologist get a second biopsy when he tells them that the first one was not adequate to properly diagnose lymphoma?
You can keep most doctors away from me. The question should be: Can I kill my wife’s doctor and have the government protect me from legal liability? They did it for him.
Medical Malpractice is the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA. (USNews and World Report 2016). I get blood tests every 6 months as a routine checkup, not doctor involved, but I do after reading the computerized easy to read results, send it off to a R.N. for a second look. I do this outside the US for $100 bucks. Avoiding the MD in the USA is the key.
If Obamacare rates a B+ ( since the GOP controlled Congress in the last 6 years WOULD NOT PASS ANY IMPROVEMENTS to spite Obama’s deeds, their own plan revealed this week rates an F!!
It rewards the very insurance CEOS who have undercut the aims of Obamacare from the beginning!!
If it is so great, then take away the current medical coverage plan for the Congress critters & mandate them under the tRumpcare!!
Oops, since many of them have become millionaires while in political office, they will still come out ahead of the 98% of the rest of us voters!!
My adult son spent about 6 months on an Obamacare plan purchased from Humana. Humana is a decent insurance company, and if you have an employer based group plan from Humana you will have a decent network. But to call the network used in the Obamacare plan narrow would be a gross understatement. It was virtually impossible to stay in the network, and when my son got bills from out of network providers, Humana refused to pay anything. A quick and common example. My son went to one of the few GPs available in the plan for a routine wellness visit, which was encouraged by the plan. While he was there, a blood draw was done for routine bloodwork (annual physical stuff). The in network doctor sent his bloodwork to an out of network lab (something my son wasn’t even aware of or would have thought about). My son later gets a bill from the lab for the blood work. And the bill wasn’t for the usual insurance negotiated fee of maybe $30. It was for some crazy list price of $300. Humana did not want to cover that bill at all (out of network). During the 6 months he also made a trip to the emergency room with a knee injury. Same nightmare. The particular doctor who saw him in the emergency room was not in the plan (though, the hospital’s emergency room was in the plan). He ended up with a $350 bill from the doctor which Humana would not cover. (You have absolutely no choice about which doctor sees you in an emergency room). So, the Obamacare plan was pretty useless. He had opted for Obamacare as a cheaper alternative to COBRA while briefly between jobs. He sure was glad to be back on an employer based health plan once he was eligible!