red states rule
11-01-2013, 03:22 AM
Obamacare only keeps getting better folks. I can't wait to here the left's excuse and who they will blame for this
It is all Bush's fault will probably be one of the excuses offered up)
The Obama Administration has been claiming that insurance companies (http://health.usnews.com/health-insurance) will be competing for your dollars under the Affordable Care Act (http://health.usnews.com/topics/subjects/affordable_care_act/usnews), but apparently they haven't surveyed the nation's top hospitals.
Americans who sign up for Obamacare will be getting a big surprise if they expect to access premium health care that may have been previously covered under their personal policies. Most of the top hospitals will accept insurance from just one or two companies operating under Obamacare.
[CHART: Which Top Hospitals Take Your Insurance Under Obamacare? (http://www.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/10/30/which-top-hospitals-take-your-health-insurance-under-obamacare)]
"This doesn't surprise me," said Gail Wilensky (http://www.gailwilensky.com/), Medicare advisor for the second Bush Administration and senior fellow for Project HOPE. "There has been an incredible amount of focus on the premium cost and subsidy, and precious little focus on what you get for your money."
Regulations driven by the Obama White House have indeed made insurance more affordable – if, like Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, you're looking only at price. But responding to Obamacare caps on premiums, many insurers will, in turn, simply offer top-tier doctors and hospitals far less cash for services rendered.
Watchdog.org (http://watchdog.org/) looked at the top 18 hospitals nationwide as ranked by U.S. News and World Report for 2013-2014 (http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals). We contacted each hospital to determine their contracts and talked to several insurance companies, as well.
The result of our investigation: Many top hospitals are simply opting out of Obamacare.
Chances are the individual plan you purchased outside Obamacare would allow you to go to these facilities. For example, fourth-ranked Cleveland Clinic accepts dozens (http://my.clevelandclinic.org/patients-visitors/billing-insurance/accepted-insurance.aspx) of insurance plans if you buy one on your own. But go through Obamacare and you have just one choice: Medical Mutual of Ohio.
And that's not because their exchanges don't offer options. Both Ohio (http://www.insurance.ohio.gov/Consumer/Pages/FederalHealthReformFAQs.aspx) and California (https://www.coveredca.com/hbex/insurance-companies/) have a dozen insurance companies on their exchanges, yet two of the states' premier hospitals – Cleveland Clinic and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center – have only one company in their respective networks.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/10/30/top-hospitals-opt-out-of-obamacare
It is all Bush's fault will probably be one of the excuses offered up)
The Obama Administration has been claiming that insurance companies (http://health.usnews.com/health-insurance) will be competing for your dollars under the Affordable Care Act (http://health.usnews.com/topics/subjects/affordable_care_act/usnews), but apparently they haven't surveyed the nation's top hospitals.
Americans who sign up for Obamacare will be getting a big surprise if they expect to access premium health care that may have been previously covered under their personal policies. Most of the top hospitals will accept insurance from just one or two companies operating under Obamacare.
[CHART: Which Top Hospitals Take Your Insurance Under Obamacare? (http://www.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/10/30/which-top-hospitals-take-your-health-insurance-under-obamacare)]
"This doesn't surprise me," said Gail Wilensky (http://www.gailwilensky.com/), Medicare advisor for the second Bush Administration and senior fellow for Project HOPE. "There has been an incredible amount of focus on the premium cost and subsidy, and precious little focus on what you get for your money."
Regulations driven by the Obama White House have indeed made insurance more affordable – if, like Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, you're looking only at price. But responding to Obamacare caps on premiums, many insurers will, in turn, simply offer top-tier doctors and hospitals far less cash for services rendered.
Watchdog.org (http://watchdog.org/) looked at the top 18 hospitals nationwide as ranked by U.S. News and World Report for 2013-2014 (http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals). We contacted each hospital to determine their contracts and talked to several insurance companies, as well.
The result of our investigation: Many top hospitals are simply opting out of Obamacare.
Chances are the individual plan you purchased outside Obamacare would allow you to go to these facilities. For example, fourth-ranked Cleveland Clinic accepts dozens (http://my.clevelandclinic.org/patients-visitors/billing-insurance/accepted-insurance.aspx) of insurance plans if you buy one on your own. But go through Obamacare and you have just one choice: Medical Mutual of Ohio.
And that's not because their exchanges don't offer options. Both Ohio (http://www.insurance.ohio.gov/Consumer/Pages/FederalHealthReformFAQs.aspx) and California (https://www.coveredca.com/hbex/insurance-companies/) have a dozen insurance companies on their exchanges, yet two of the states' premier hospitals – Cleveland Clinic and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center – have only one company in their respective networks.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/10/30/top-hospitals-opt-out-of-obamacare