Hopkins is dropping CareFirst

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More and more and more PCPs don't even take insurance anymore. This is getting ridiculous.

You can't even see a doc these days for primary care. They are either a) booked full or b) don't even take your insurance.

You are forced now to pay out the ass for concierge care style in order to see a real MD for primary care. Primary care and preventative medicine will now only be accessible for rich people who can afford multiple thousand dollar memberships per year to these pricey models.

F this country.

My family in other major cities have no problems finding pcps who take insurance, or even psychiatrists (not a single one in dc does). THE DIFFERENCE? Here providers can demand you pay out of pocket because people want the extra attention and have the resources. Doctors in Buffalo or Pittsburgh somehow manage to thrive without going concierge.

Insurance companies suck, but doctors are to blame as well. I am not a fan of Amazon, but I hope they put one medicals all over the place so these concierge practices are forced to open up to more people…not just the rich.

Insurance companies make doctor's lives miserable. Increased documentation, prior authorizations for medications that patients need, and hours of uncompensated work. Many many medical students are choosing to forgo primary care for these reasons leading to a shortage. The primary care docs want fewer patients and more time with patients- this can only be accomplished these days by having smaller panels, going very part time, or going to a non insurance/ cash based practice. I assure you that most ppl in primary care aren't in it to be greedy or for the money because if they were, they would not have picked primary care. Expect for primary care to become increasingly fragmented with more turnover and midlevels. I agree the rich will have access to premium primary care services if they can afford cash based practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How were all of you notified? I have CareFirst and several Hopkins providers and have seen nothing. I'm a breast cancer patient.

My employer is switching to Cigna in January and I was really upset but maybe I shouldn't be.

Email


Another poster in this thread posted the email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More and more and more PCPs don't even take insurance anymore. This is getting ridiculous.

You can't even see a doc these days for primary care. They are either a) booked full or b) don't even take your insurance.

You are forced now to pay out the ass for concierge care style in order to see a real MD for primary care. Primary care and preventative medicine will now only be accessible for rich people who can afford multiple thousand dollar memberships per year to these pricey models.

F this country.

My family in other major cities have no problems finding pcps who take insurance, or even psychiatrists (not a single one in dc does). THE DIFFERENCE? Here providers can demand you pay out of pocket because people want the extra attention and have the resources. Doctors in Buffalo or Pittsburgh somehow manage to thrive without going concierge.

Insurance companies suck, but doctors are to blame as well. I am not a fan of Amazon, but I hope they put one medicals all over the place so these concierge practices are forced to open up to more people…not just the rich.

Insurance companies make doctor's lives miserable. Increased documentation, prior authorizations for medications that patients need, and hours of uncompensated work. Many many medical students are choosing to forgo primary care for these reasons leading to a shortage. The primary care docs want fewer patients and more time with patients- this can only be accomplished these days by having smaller panels, going very part time, or going to a non insurance/ cash based practice. I assure you that most ppl in primary care aren't in it to be greedy or for the money because if they were, they would not have picked primary care. Expect for primary care to become increasingly fragmented with more turnover and midlevels. I agree the rich will have access to premium primary care services if they can afford cash based practices.

Yes, treating healthcare as a profitable business means that patients and providers get screwed while shareholders profit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hear other companies/organizations are dropping BCBS too. Wonder what is happening.

Their reimbursements are low.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I didn't get the email as we haven't used JHU in a few years. Thank you for posting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a decent alternative if we do have to switch? Is there any use in calling the BCBS customer care line to complain?

Gonna have to wait until open season. Perhaps Aetna?

I switched from BCBS to Aetna PPO this year. Aetna has a more robust network.

[Anonymous]

thank the greedy doctors and big pharma.

[Anonymous]

A separate problem that exacerbates this is a shortage of doctors, especially PCPs. The US needs more residency slots and better incentives for young doctors with debt loads to go into general practice.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I’m high risk for breast cancer and go to Hopkins frequently. I have BCBS but from PA, which looks like I’ll still be covered, although I got the email too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How were all of you notified? I have CareFirst and several Hopkins providers and have seen nothing. I'm a breast cancer patient.

My employer is switching to Cigna in January and I was really upset but maybe I shouldn't be.

Email


Another poster in this thread posted the email.

Yes thats me. Also breast cancer survivor. I get super infrequent emails from them so this one got my attention.

[Anonymous]

I just received an email as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BCBS in this area is too big especially with the Fed option for Hopkins to drop them. They literally can't survive without it. This is to help negotiate their rates. This is like when you get a warning that your TV provider is dropping ESPN. In the end they figure it out.

They shouldn’t be playing games like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A separate problem that exacerbates this is a shortage of doctors, especially PCPs. The US needs more residency slots and better incentives for young doctors with debt loads to go into general practice.

No one wants to become a PCP because other specialties pay so much more. Or they go concierge.

[Anonymous]

I feel like this is a ploy to get Carefirst to raise their reimbursement rates. They're stuck in negotiation and said they MAY have to drop patients with Carefirst. They want patients to start calling and complaining which will help them out.

[Anonymous]

Great. I just made an appointment that I could not get until February 2023. Why do I have insurance? If a country can't keep its people educated and healthy, what's the point? We are really doomed.