Though President Barack Obama maintained that Americans would be able to keep their doctors with the Affordable Care Act in place, many consumers are finding this not to be the case.
Among individuals who have purchased health plans through the exchanges – presumably because they don't have employee benefits – many people are having to look for a new primary care physician because their doctor doesn't accept their form of coverage, The Associated Press reported.
"It's not fun when you've had a doctor for years and years that you can confide in and he knows you," said Michelle Poll, a 60-year-old California resident with diabetes who's had to look for a new physician. "I'm extremely discouraged. I'm stuck."
The AP noted that in order to ensure premium prices don't spiral out of control, many coverage networks are a lot more confined than they have been in years past. This means that people have fewer options to turn to for doctors who will take insurance purchased through state-based of federally facilitated health marketplaces.
Craig Gussin, a San Diego-based insurance agent, told the AP that consumers losing their doctors is "probably the number one item" that his customers have come to him with regarding issues with their plans.
One of the reasons why doctors are opting not to take certain health plans has to do with reimbursement rates. After treatments are performed, insurers pay hospitals and doctors' offices for the price of what medical services were provided. However, some insurers are not paying what they used to, such as Medicare and Medicaid, often due to cuts in funding.
Though the vast majority of doctors' offices still take insurance, more practices are turning to a direct pay model. According to Medscape, insurance-free offices jumped from 3 percent to 6 percent of all U.S. practices between 2011 and 2013.
