The new year is here and brings with it the new deductible. Over the last few weeks of December, I saw a rush of patients needing medical services and wanted to do it before their new deductible rolled out. They had reached their deductible for 2015 and their insurance was now paying for their medical care. They knew once the bells of 2016 rang out, their deductible would be reset and they would be responsible for their healthcare costs. Welcome to the new year and the new deductible.
Over the past several years, insurance plans now come with increasing deductibles. I have seen some as high as $15,000 a year. What this means is that a patient will be footing the bill unless there is a catastrophic event. Routine care will mostly be paid out-of-pocket. Likewise, chronic diseases will be paid by the patient until the deductible is met and with the new super high deductibles, many times the deductible is never reached.
Proponents of Obamacare proclaim its goodness in that now all patients will have healthcare insurance. But, it is not something provided to them. They are forced to buy it on their own or face tax penalties. Mandating people to purchase insurance is just worsening the healthcare crisis. Many people cannot afford the premiums. And on top of that, they are basically getting no coverage because they must cover the deductible as well.
Patients now must make a financial decision whether to see the doctor or seek medical care. How much is that deductible going to set them back or eat into their savings? I have seen patients deciding not to come for care because of the deductible issue. People with chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, are spacing out their visits because it is becoming unaffordable. And this is not a good thing because it is raising their risks of complications.
Additionally, a mother in my practice decided to cancel her appointment because her son got sick and couldn’t afford both deductibles. Patients are self-rationing medical care based just out of cost considerations. Often, medical knowledge is not going into the decisions, but just dollar amounts.
One has to wonder where all this money is going. More and more Americans are now paying for their own insurance premiums. And, insurance companies are covering less and less. Surely, these 3rd parties are the biggest beneficiaries of the ACA (Affordable Care Act). The media is clamoring for transparency in healthcare all the time. Perhaps, it is time for the big insurance companies to be called upon to throw open their books as well and show us where their profits are coming from and going to.
While the Supreme Court decided Obamacare is legal, is it really beneficial? To me, it seems the only ones taking the risks here are the American people. The lawmakers and politicians carry their own special healthcare plans. Yet, the people are forced to buy their own plans. Many are living paycheck to paycheck and this adds a burden onto them. Throw in the new age deductibles and people are being crushed under the weight of this law. If they refuse to comply, they will be laden with an annually increasing tax.
The healthcare system is broken and it is throwing its chaos unto the people. Politicians are mandating changes that are deepening the fissures in the system. Unless something changes, medical is going to be out of reach for many. Before we get to that point, Obamacare should be re-examined as to its usefulness and 3rd parties need more oversight. Otherwise, medicine will be for an élite group only. No one should want to see that.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Linda Girgis, MD, FAAFP
Hi Doctor: I found your website as a result of reading your article about a new year starting and resetting of the yearly deductible. Very interesting and true. I’m not a doctor myself, but I have a friend who is and is considering a practice of his own. I forwarded your article to him because you mentioned Obama Care and that it is not the panacea it’s all made out to be – seems it’s just the opposite. In any case, I don’t want to take much more of your time but I did see your tweet: “Now I know why my staff doesn’t want me 2 play with circuit breakers & routers: Tried 2 restore power: #EHR is down and server crashed..” I am in the IT (Information Technology field) and have experience with the kind issue you tweeted. Based on what you tweeted it would seem that you have a server on your premises that supports your EHR system or is tied into it in some way. If you loose power, or your circuit breakers are tripped (which will remove power to your server) and your server crashes then your local setup is not properly configured to survive a power outage. I obviously don’t know who set up your system but there is a relatively inexpensive way to remedy such a situation. What you need to install is a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) . A UPS will pass the AC power from your power company to your equipment and will sit idle until it detects a loss of AC from the power company. When the UPS detects the loss it will immediately begin to provide temporary power to your server for a short period of time so that your server does not crash. The capacity of the UPS (and how much power your server requires) will dictate how long the UPS can supply the needed power. Obviously, the more capacity the UPS has the longer the server and any equipment connected to the UPS can stay functional. The UPS is especially effective in areas where you may be subject to low or high voltage spikes from your power company – both kinds of spikes can cause an outage and/or damage a server. So, that’s the solution to stopping your EHR server from crashing when your circuit breakers are tripped. Good luck.