President Obama has been claiming that people can keep their favorite doctors under the Affordable Care Act. But anyone who wants a premier hospital in California better do some homework before signing up.
A survey of the state’s top hospitals has revealed that most contract with only one or two insurance companies under Obamacare, even though the Covered California exchange has 11 companies to choose from. And one hospital, Loma Linda University Medical Center, has refused to participate altogether and has no contracts.
Obamacare is driven by low-cost policies. So the reimbursement rate hospitals will receive from insurance companies just isn’t worth it to them. The end result is that the blue ribbon hospitals won’t have a large presence on the exchange, Watchdog.org has learned.
“The more we are learn about the insurance plans on Covered California, the more it becomes clear that the big name hospitals are sitting on the sidelines — some by choice, other by design of the insurers,” said Josh Archambault, senior fellow for the Foundation for Government Accountability and a frequent Obamacare critic. “Consumers get the short end of the stick.”
Watchdog.org looked at the top 15 California hospitals listed in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013-2014 annual report and contacted each one to determine their Obamacare insurance contracts.
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