According to the head of California’s largest medical association “seven out of every 10 physicians in California are rebelling against the state’s ObamaCare health insurance exchange and won’t participate”. Source
Why?
Simple economics: the reimbursement rates are too low.
ObamaCare Exchange reimbursement levels appear to mirror Medicare & Medicaid rates.
And, for example, Medicaid only reimburses doctors 72 cents out of each dollar of costs.
You can’t make it up in volume.
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Similarly, some high profile hospitals – e.g. Sloan-Kettering, Cedars Sinai – are opting out of the Exchange programs.
Why?
Reimbursements rates are too low.
Most conservative pundits are saying that the shrinking doctor & hospital networks will force ObamaCare to its knees … since people will revolt when they can’t use “their” doctors or the best hospitals.
Further, O’Reilly, et. al., have been saying “… and there’s nothing Obama can do about it.”
I beg to differ Mr. O’Reilly …
Let’s take the hospitals first.
If they are not-for-profit hospitals, then by ObamaCare statute, the IRS can take away a hospital’s tax exemption if it tries to charge patients more than the average amount paid for services by insurance companies and Medicare. Source
Read that last line carefully.
It says the “average” between Medicare and private insurance (i.e. market) rates … i.e. lower than private insurance rates.
A race to the bottom, below cost, right?
OK, so NFP hospitals can lose their tax exempt status.
But, what about doctors who opt out.
Simple.
Remember the 16,000 new IRS agents that ObamaCare is funding?
Easy to imagine a few of those agents being deployed to audit non-participating doctors.
After all, many auto dealers who opposed the auto bailout ending up.
These Chicago guys play hardball.
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December 11, 2013 at 10:19 am |
Even easier than an audit. As you are already seeing in Massachusetts, state boards will simply connect licensing to patient/insurance acceptance.
If you don’t take the mandated patients at the mandated rates, you can’t be a doctor.