Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Obamacare's Red State Medical Tourism Potential




It’s one thing to enroll and obtain an insurance policy on the Obamacare exchanges, it’s quite another to find a doctor, or hospital that will participate.  Many are finding out the pickings are slim.

 
FRANKLIN, TN (WSMV) -
It's been less a month since the Affordable Care Act started providing health coverage for people who bought insurance through the exchange, and now some people who are going to the doctor for the first time are finding some complications.
"We have health insurance that is worthless," said customer Shawnna Simpson.
Simpson found out last week the new insurance for which she is paying $600 a month was a bad choice for her family.
Her 15-year-old daughter was hurt in a cheerleading accident, so Simpson called her family doctor only to learnhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.pngthey don't take her new health plan: Blue Cross Network E.
Ever since, she's been on the phone with the healthcare exchange, looking for a family doctor in Williamson County that accepts her plan, but finding none.
"We can't use it in the county where we live," she said

Some Blue States are trying to remedy that predicament.  Legislators are making threats to force doctors to swallow the Obamacare snake oil.  If these physicians refuse, states will revoke their licenses, thereby denying them the ability to practice.
What we will witness is legions of doctors retiring, or moving to friendly Red States.  We could have a Canadian style health care tourism within the United States.  New Yorkers will travel to Texas to expedite simple medical procedures.  I can actually see health care cost decreasing in those states that refuse this Obamacare monstrosity.
 Since the third-party payer system would be eliminated, customers will have to pay cash.  Patients will know the actual cost of a procedure.  They will have the ability to shop around for cost effective health care.  What a novel idea.
 Maybe Obamacare isn’t so bad, after all.   





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