Letters Warn “You Cannot Keep Your Doctor” Freaking Out Thousands

 Does anyone recall the Obamacare promise “you can keep your doctor”. Up to 100,000 people might find out otherwise in one big bang. More are likely on deck.

Image National Cancer Institute

Freaking Out

Patients are caught in the middle of contract disputes between hospitals and health insurers. As a result, people are Freaking Out. Letters Warn Patients They Risk Losing Their Doctor

Patients are getting ominous warnings in their mail and inboxes: They are about to lose insurance coverage of their doctors.

The threatening letters and emails have sent patients reeling. Unsure what to make of it all, they are flooding doctors with calls asking questions, snapping up appointments with the physicians and taking to social media to complain.

Sparring in New York City are health insurers such as giants UnitedHealthcare and Aetna, which pay for medical care, and big-name hospital systems like NewYork-Presbyterian and Mount Sinai Health System seeking more money for the treatment provided by their doctors.

NewYork-Presbyterian said the insurer has failed to offer enough. Aetna said the hospital system’s demands are unsupportable. Both declined to say what rate increases they are seeking.

If hospitals and insurance companies fail to agree on a contract, patients can lose not only some or even all of their health plan’s coverage, but they may also pay a doctor’s higher, non-negotiated rates.

The hospital system sought new terms because of rising labor costs and its analysis of newly public hospital pricing data indicated Mount Sinai wasn’t paid as well as its competitors, said Brent Estes, Mount Sinai’s chief managed-care officer. 

UnitedHealthcare said Mount Sinai’s proposals would increase its rates by 43% to 58% over three to four years. “We continue to await a realistic proposal from Mount Sinai that’s affordable and sustainable for New Yorkers and employers,” the company said.

As boomers get older demands for medical care services will explode.

Percentage Change in Debt and Population

In the last four years, the percentage increase in population was 3.0 percent. The percentage in crease in debt was 45.3 percent.

Federal Debt vs Population 1992 vs Now

• In 1992, the federal debt was $4.027 trillion. The population was 192.805 million.
• At the end of 2023, federal debt was $32.690 trillion and the population was 266.942 million.
• Between 2019 and 2023, the federal debt rose by 45.3 percent. The population rose by 3.0 percent.
• Between 2007 and 2019, the federal debt rose by 105.3 0ercent. The population rose by 11.8 percent.

For discussion, please see The Amazing Trajectory of the Federal Debt vs Population Growth

The cost of healthcare is about to soar.

I will do a follow-up post with new charts from a CPI perspective.

https://mishtalk.com/economics/letters-warn-you-cannot-keep-your-doctor-thousands-freaking-out/