You sound like an elitist for dissing NPs. I decided to switch to seeing NPs becuase it was taking over 2 months to get an appointment with my PCP that I had been with for over 10 years. I absolutely believe those that are frustrated that health insurance palns fail to set folks up with a physician that will see them in a timely way. I'm sure they could use technology that would show the scheudles for all their available doctors in an area and help members get set up with that doctor, but for some reason they act like it's impossible and instead members have to call and call and call to track down a PCP. ANyway, I decided to instead go with One MEdical which costs $200 per year and uses NPs. They have a great app that shows the availability of NPs and their locations. Very easy to use. Plus I feel like the NP is actually better than my PCP-- takes more time and listens to be and asks questions beyond just the exact reason I scheduled the visit. I encourage you to reconisder your take that NPs are "less than" PCPs-- my NP is just as able to refer me to a specialist as a PCP. |
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Fewer doctors are accepting the ACA coverage my elderly parents have in addition to their Medicare. My dad had a stroke and the earliest we could find a doctor to see him after his ER visit was 6 weeks. My mom and I called every name on their covered providers list in their city (where my mom is comfortable driving) and in the DMV area (where I could drive them). He was on 7 lists to get an appointment if someone else canceled.
Delayed care from the pandemic + fewer insurance-accepting providers = a medical nightmare for most but especially the elderly. Before they got coverage through the ACA, my parents were paying $335/month (mom) and $389/month (dad) directly with a BCBS plan. They got those prices down to $205 & $230 with the ACA. |
You’re nice. Since you are a jackals who needs more explanation. I have lived here for more than two decades and know the market here. We already went through this with my spouse who called multiple practices that either don’t take insurance or aren’t taking new patients. When I enrolled in Medicare, I called the only primary practice in my part of DC that was listed as participating in Medicare and they are now concierge also, so I bypassed the primary care idiocy and went to a specialist. |
+1 We are self employed and purchase an ACA plan at full fee- it is outrageously expensive and also has an enormous deductible that we have never met. We avoid medical care whenever possible- really cannot afford it, with exception of well visits. Insurance is not health care. Two different things. We cannot afford to pay any more than we already do. We can barely pay for ourselves at this point, ffs. |
Yes it is. It has to do with the provisions on electronic medical records. This was made worse with a switch to codes in Europe. |
That is exactly what happened. For instance single payer wasn't even allowed to be discussed. They made a deal with PhRMA, the insurance companies, and the unions (unions didnt want to give up their negotiated health care benefits) ahead of time and wrote a bill that was almost an exact copy of the Heritage Foundation plan that became Romneycare in Massachusetts. Heck Baucus wrote the bill and released his white paper on it before the inauguration had even happened. And yes they were idiots for doing so. People were complaining about it in real time. |
We went from under $200 to over $3000 |
I highly doubt that unles the $200 was for catastrophic care only. |
And you sound like a pretentious dbag who makes grand assumptions regarding someone’s health whom you have never even met in real life. How do you know I don’t t have very complicated medical issues and a rare disease? NPs are ok for cuts and bruises. When things are more complex, I want a doctor please. |
We are self employed. ACA enabled us to do so because we don't want to go without health insurance. Dh has a congenital condition that is considered "pre-existing". When we wanted to go back to being self employed, we couldn't because of the pre-existing condition. We actually had private health insurance long before ACA, and it was expensive then, too. |
Are you in VA? In MoCo, our high deductible plan is $1300, family of four. Prior to ACA, we couldn't get health care coverage because we are self employed, and there is a pre-existing condition in the family. |
Well, my personal experience as a person with a very complicated medical issue is that a NP was just as good as a PCP at advising which specialist to see-- and really actually better because I didn't need to wait for months to see the PCP. Or maybe just contact specialists directly to be seen? It's possible you don't need the approval of a PCP to see the specialist. |
I agree. I've had very good interactions with NPs. |
NP: we have always had private insurance and good policies were always expensive -but ours doubled after ACA- we have no pre existing conditions (not then, now now) so got easy coverage at a much lower rate. With ACA all pay the same…a big win for some but a big loss for others. |
| Obama is a politician. I’m the context of his political party, ACA was a huge win, of course it helped some people. It’s also going to hurt others. The system is broken so take it all with a grain of salt: ACA didn’t improve things for all, it tried but couldn’t. He had good intentions but he knew it was a political move as well. It is what it is - we aren’t going to be able to change the system. Things have to get worse before better or maybe never at all because too much money is being made that we can never undo the foundation of healthcare for profit in this country. Accept that as it’s true. It sucks but it’s still true. |