Surprise: Republican ACA alternatives are much worse deal for middle-class Americans

[WHAMPOM]

Republicans want to "replace" Obamacare, but an Op-Ed piece argues that the "train wreck" of Obamacare would become an extinction event under Republican plans.

In other notes of historical politics, in 1912 the Bull Moose Party had universal healthcare as part of its electoral platform.

 

[JohnnyGage]

There is sort of a bizarre circle here.
1. The ACA is a Republican plan!
2. The Republicans have no plan!
3. Look how awful is the Republican plan!
4. The ACA is awesome!
5. GOTO 1.

The 'Republican Plan' is so hilarious. What they're arguing is that the most important piece of legislation for the Democrats and the President's term is a bad Republican idea from 20 years ago. Progressive, very progressive.

 

[fskimospy]

Romney was a Democrat as Governor. When did that happen?

Know what he wasn't? A GOP president, which was what Phokus said.

 

[bozack]

I'm suggesting that you're playing the drama queen & exaggerating, probably conflating some sort of local issue into a systemic ACA problem.

like I said in a previous thread, made the appointment last September 2014, don't get in until next January 2016, called about 15 doctors in the area and searched through nearly 100...

Before ACA I didn't have any trouble getting in to see a Doctor....now is it related to ACA, who knows, but whenever I call a doctor I am told by the person on the phones that due to the ACA and more insured in the state many doctors aren't taking new patients and those that are have a major wait list.

I am not willing to drive an hour plus for a Dr visit and I essentially gave up trying to find another one so here I wait for my appointment.

 

[K1052]

like I said in a previous thread, made the appointment last September 2014, don't get in until next January 2016, called about 15 doctors in the area and searched through nearly 100...

Before ACA I didn't have any trouble getting in to see a Doctor....now is it related to ACA, who knows, but whenever I call a doctor I am told by the person on the phones that due to the ACA and more insured in the state many doctors aren't taking new patients and those that are have a major wait list.

I am not willing to drive an hour plus for a Dr visit and I essentially gave up trying to find another one so here I wait for my appointment.

I got a new PCP in a few days, even one with specialty focus areas.

Er…thanks Obama?

 

[senseamp]

Scott Walker's alternative to Obamacare: send sick people to Canada, and build a wall so they can't return.

 

[fleshconsumed]

like I said in a previous thread, made the appointment last September 2014, don't get in until next January 2016, called about 15 doctors in the area and searched through nearly 100...

Before ACA I didn't have any trouble getting in to see a Doctor....now is it related to ACA, who knows, but whenever I call a doctor I am told by the person on the phones that due to the ACA and more insured in the state many doctors aren't taking new patients and those that are have a major wait list.

I am not willing to drive an hour plus for a Dr visit and I essentially gave up trying to find another one so here I wait for my appointment.

Meh, I had pretty bad ear infection 7-10 years back. I couldn't find any ENT that would see me in the next couple of days within 30 minute drive, the only one I could find that would see me sooner than 4 weeks was 1 hour away. The problem you're describing has been there for a lot longer than ACA has existed.

 

[fskimospy]

like I said in a previous thread, made the appointment last September 2014, don't get in until next January 2016, called about 15 doctors in the area and searched through nearly 100...

Before ACA I didn't have any trouble getting in to see a Doctor....now is it related to ACA, who knows, but whenever I call a doctor I am told by the person on the phones that due to the ACA and more insured in the state many doctors aren't taking new patients and those that are have a major wait list.

I am not willing to drive an hour plus for a Dr visit and I essentially gave up trying to find another one so here I wait for my appointment.

I can get an appointment with a PCP for this afternoon if I want. Hell, I could get an appointment with one of half a dozen PCPs if I wanted to.

If it's ACA related, can you explain why this only appears to be a problem in your area and due to more insured people, especially considering Massachusetts has had an insurance rate of nearly 100% for many years before the ACA? (you're in MA, right?)

 

[OverVolt]

The real surprise is that the democrats think making under $30k makes you middle class since thats where you start seeing ACA benefits.

Geez they keep setting the bar lower and lower for "having money to share"

 

[fskimospy]

The real surprise is that the democrats think making under $30k makes you middle class since thats where you start seeing ACA benefits.

Geez they keep setting the bar lower and lower for "having money to share"

That would put you in about the 30th percentile for household income. It's hard to think of many definitions of middle class that the 30th percentile wouldn't fit.

Also, the idea that people only see benefits from the ACA at $30k and below is badly misinformed.

http://wpsic.com/learningcenter/hea...ealth-insurance-assistance.shtml#.VeTLw6DD_qA

 

[EduCat]

like I said in a previous thread, made the appointment last September 2014, don't get in until next January 2016, called about 15 doctors in the area and searched through nearly 100...

Before ACA I didn't have any trouble getting in to see a Doctor....now is it related to ACA, who knows, but whenever I call a doctor I am told by the person on the phones that due to the ACA and more insured in the state many doctors aren't taking new patients and those that are have a major wait list.

I am not willing to drive an hour plus for a Dr visit and I essentially gave up trying to find another one so here I wait for my appointment.

LoL what a load of BS.

 

[werepossum]

The 'Republican Plan' is so hilarious. What they're arguing is that the most important piece of legislation for the Democrats and the President's term is a bad Republican idea from 20 years ago. Progressive, very progressive.

Yup, but this is politics and any old argument in a storm.

I can get an appointment with a PCP for this afternoon if I want. Hell, I could get an appointment with one of half a dozen PCPs if I wanted to.

If it's ACA related, can you explain why this only appears to be a problem in your area and due to more insured people, especially considering Massachusetts has had an insurance rate of nearly 100% for many years before the ACA? (you're in MA, right?)

That is bizarre - MA should be one of the least hit - but it's pretty well documented that MA is one of the worst hit. Must be something coincidental or tangentially related as Massachusetts shouldn't have that many uninsured people to suddenly get coverage. Or maybe Massachusetts doctors are moving elsewhere to get the sudden influx of patients without the oppressive Massachusetts taxes - which also doesn't make sense since a well-established practice in a high tax area should be better than a new practice in a low tax area.

 

[Victorian Gray]

like I said in a previous thread, made the appointment last September 2014, don't get in until next January 2016, called about 15 doctors in the area and searched through nearly 100...

Before ACA I didn't have any trouble getting in to see a Doctor....now is it related to ACA, who knows, but whenever I call a doctor I am told by the person on the phones that due to the ACA and more insured in the state many doctors aren't taking new patients and those that are have a major wait list.

I am not willing to drive an hour plus for a Dr visit and I essentially gave up trying to find another one so here I wait for my appointment.

Seems like there is something of a backstory (back to, at least, 2006) re your physician issues.

October 13, 2013

Why is it so hard to find a doctor?

Half of primary care physicians in our state are not accepting new patients. A prescription for the problem.

"Across Massachusetts, about half of primary care doctors aren’t taking new patients, according to the Massachusetts Medical Society’s 2013 Patient Access to Care Study. The rate for internal medicine specialists, or internists, who often also serve as primary care doctors, is 55 percent. If you’ve found a new doctor and want to schedule a routine visit, be prepared to wait. It takes an average of 39 days for new patients to get an appointment with a family physician and 50 days to see an internist. That’s better than last year, when the average wait was a whopping 45 days, but up from 29 days in 2010.

The wait could get longer. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects that nationwide 13,700 more doctors of all types were needed than were available in 2010, and that the gap will hit 130,600 by 2025, with about half of the shortfall in primary care. Are doctors becoming two-headed calves? No, but they are getting scarcer, for lots of reasons.

For one, we’re all living longer, on average, and we need more care as we age. Baby boomers, the oldest of whom are now in their mid-60s, will swell demand for doctors’ time over the next two decades. Doctors are baby boomers, too, meaning many of them are nearing retirement age; about a third of the nation’s doctors, including specialists, are older than 55. Meanwhile, when the state reformed health care in 2006, it expanded insurance coverage, increasing access to care without boosting the supply of doctors. "

https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazin...find-doctor/AZmAhh8DJowD63cIVF0vPO/story.html

 

[bozack]

I can get an appointment with a PCP for this afternoon if I want. Hell, I could get an appointment with one of half a dozen PCPs if I wanted to.

If it's ACA related, can you explain why this only appears to be a problem in your area and due to more insured people, especially considering Massachusetts has had an insurance rate of nearly 100% for many years before the ACA? (you're in MA, right?)

MA has only been supposedly near 100% as of recently, prior to that we were a ways away from that

Regardless, as you said we have been using this system the longest and things have gotten progressively worse when it comes to access to care.

 

[Jhhnn]

MA has only been supposedly near 100% as of recently, prior to that we were a ways away from that

Regardless, as you said we have been using this system the longest and things have gotten progressively worse when it comes to access to care.

So, if other people had poorer access to care then yours would be better, right?

Why should yours be better?

 

[K1052]

MA has only been supposedly near 100% as of recently, prior to that we were a ways away from that

Regardless, as you said we have been using this system the longest and things have gotten progressively worse when it comes to access to care.

Per the (2013) article above only 4% didn't have insurance. The problem is a local shortage of doctors not that a huge number people who were not getting access suddenly are.

 

[bozack]

So, if other people had poorer access to care then yours would be better, right?

Why should yours be better?

LOL of course Jhhnn, if anything my coverage and or access should be shittier as I actually pay taxes...what was I thinking.

But right now I would take almost anything...

 

[bozack]

Per the (2013) article above only 4% didn't have insurance. The problem is a local shortage of doctors not that a huge number people who were not getting access suddenly are.

Possibly not that article but others have stated that there was a big push along with ACA to get more folks insured and further taxing the already strained MA healthcare system...as I read in another thread Yes the majority now has health insurance coverage but what kind of care are they getting and how much access do people truly have.

I can say from my own experience, getting access to a mediocre physician has proven to be a challenge and health costs are continually going up and I presume things will just get worse.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Possibly not that article but others have stated that there was a big push along with ACA to get more folks insured and further taxing the already strained MA healthcare system...as I read in another thread Yes the majority now has health insurance coverage but what kind of care are they getting and how much access do people truly have.

I can say from my own experience, getting access to a mediocre physician has proven to be a challenge and health costs are continually going up and I presume things will just get worse.

And it's an issue that goes back a number of years before ACA.

Also from 2013:

"The MMS released its annual study of the state’s physician workforce this week, showing an eighth consecutive year of shortages of primary care physicians; stark differences in recruitment and retention among the state’s five regional labor markets; and high levels of knowledge by physicians with state reform initiatives and emerging care models."

http://www.massmed.org/News-and-Pub...tages;-Monday-is-HIPAA-Deadline/#.VeURJ0YXOsY

From 2011:

Massachusetts is facing severe or critical shortages of doctors in eight specialties, including a deficiency of primary care physicians for the sixth year, a survey shows.

http://www.amednews.com/article/20111012/profession/310129997/8/

From 2007:

Massachusetts continues to experience physician shortages in primary care, psychiatry, and six other specialties that are adversely affecting patient access to care, according to the latest physician workforce study released today by the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide organization of physicians.

The society’s 2007 Physician Workforce Study found physician shortages in primary care (family practice and internal medicine), psychiatry, and vascular surgery for the second consecutive year. Anesthesiology, cardiology, gastroenterology, and neurosurgery remain in short supply, while urology appears on the list for the first time.

http://healthcarenews.com/mms-study...rimary-care-psychiatry-six-other-specialties/

 

[bozack]

And it's an issue that goes back a number of years before ACA.

Also from 2013:

"The MMS released its annual study of the state’s physician workforce this week, showing an eighth consecutive year of shortages of primary care physicians; stark differences in recruitment and retention among the state’s five regional labor markets; and high levels of knowledge by physicians with state reform initiatives and emerging care models."

http://www.massmed.org/News-and-Pub...tages;-Monday-is-HIPAA-Deadline/#.VeURJ0YXOsY

From 2011:

Massachusetts is facing severe or critical shortages of doctors in eight specialties, including a deficiency of primary care physicians for the sixth year, a survey shows.

http://www.amednews.com/article/20111012/profession/310129997/8/

From 2007:

Massachusetts continues to experience physician shortages in primary care, psychiatry, and six other specialties that are adversely affecting patient access to care, according to the latest physician workforce study released today by the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide organization of physicians.

The society’s 2007 Physician Workforce Study found physician shortages in primary care (family practice and internal medicine), psychiatry, and vascular surgery for the second consecutive year. Anesthesiology, cardiology, gastroenterology, and neurosurgery remain in short supply, while urology appears on the list for the first time.

http://healthcarenews.com/mms-study...rimary-care-psychiatry-six-other-specialties/

many here and elsewhere like to use MA as the example for ACA, using this state as said example wouldn't it be a fair conclusion to reach that we and our current state are what is to come across the nation.

Again, while what I am experiencing may not be a result of the ACA the fact is that the ACA was modeled after the program which we have been using for a number of years, and as I mentioned from my experience access to care is limited at best.

 

[MovingTarget]

Possibly not that article but others have stated that there was a big push along with ACA to get more folks insured and further taxing the already strained MA healthcare system...as I read in another thread Yes the majority now has health insurance coverage but what kind of care are they getting and how much access do people truly have.

I can say from my own experience, getting access to a mediocre physician has proven to be a challenge and health costs are continually going up and I presume things will just get worse.

Please don't take our disagreement over your claims as an absence of sympathy for your situation. The ACA has largely acted as designed and increased coverage/access to more people, which by itself is a laudable goal. Perhaps what we should be discussing is how we can use public policy tools to increase the pool of available primary care physicians independent of the ACA itself, but that may be deserving of a thread unto itself.

 

[MongGrel]

We could hang out here for the next 20 years and it wouldn't matter.

I know I'll be dead before them and they are all off at a fundrasier having a good time at a party somewhere.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

In other notes of historical politics, in 1912 the Bull Moose Party had universal healthcare as part of its electoral platform.

Another fun fact in the 50s unions started to offer healthcare for all members as part of their dues. Businesses didn't like people asking for more pay because they had less benefits. That is when business got into healthcare.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I have been told over and over on this msgboard ACA is the Republican plan.

Republicans Had a PLan to Replace Obamacare. It looked a lot like Obamacare

Unpopular Mandate: Why Do Politicians Reverse Their Positions?

Forbes: The Tortuous History of Conservatives and the Individual Mandate

Health Care Mandate Was First Backed by Conservatives

In the early '90's the Republicans were terrified of the prospect of Americans backing socialized medicine, so they tried to come up with an alternative so that their wealthy insurance company executive and hospital executive buddies could stay in business and continue to reap the financial rewards of Americans' illnesses. The result was the idea of an individual mandate, the idea being to attain near 100% coverage while keeping private insurance companies and hospitals in business.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Scott Walker's alternative to Obamacare: send sick people to Canada, and build a wall so they can't return.

Who says the people would want to return and that Canada will not need to build a wall to keep Americans out?