Thousands Scramble To Get Medical Procedures Before ObamaCare Starts

- December 30, 2013

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	Thousands Scramble To Get Medical Procedures Before ObamaCare Starts Timothy Martin writing for the Wall Street Journal reported today that thousands of patients are lining up for medical procedures and specialist visits before ObamaCare starts on Wednesday. Many insurers offering plans under the law are slimming down their networks of doctors and hospitals in a bid to lower the cost of policies, which begin coverage Wednesday. According to the report, nearly 70% of new plans under the health law offer relatively narrow networks compared with many current plans, according to a recent McKinsey & Co. report. "For exchange plans, it's about affordability and getting to a lower price point," said Juan Davila, an executive vice president at Blue Shield of California, which dropped about 40% of its physicians who didn't agree to lower rates for the new plans. In particular, insurers now using the Obamacare system have begun to exclude major academic institutions from their coverage, as these compete with cheaper community hospitals ostensibly providing the same service. To prevent patients from spending more of their money on better care, the insurance plans simply eliminate the competition from coverage plans to the benefit of community hospitals. Many plans also require referrals to visit specialists, which would require someone already familiar with a long-time specialist to find a general practitioner to direct them to the doctor they wanted to see in the first place. The recognition by some consumers that their new plans won't always cover the facilities or doctors they want is triggering the boomlet in last-minute procedures, say health- care providers. Those without this ability to rush due to their current good health will have a "rude awakening," said James Conroy, chief health care officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges. He warned that these people will likely be surprised at their limited new insurance when they finally need to rely on Obamacare for medical help. To read the entire report from the Wall Street Journal please click here.

Olympic Security Fear
At least 16 people died in a suicide bombing in southern Russia yesterday which fit a pattern of recent terror attacks and increased the focus on already-heavy security for the Sochi Olympics in six weeks, U.S. officials say. The bomb used was packed with "identical" shrapnel to that in a bombing at a railway station in Volgograd, indicating they may have been made in the same place and supporting suspicions the bombings were linked, investigators said.

President Putin, who has staked his prestige on February's Sochi Games and dismissed threats from Chechen and other Islamist militants in the nearby North Caucasus, ordered tighter security nationwide after the morning rush-hour blast. The violence raises fears of a concerted campaign before the Olympics, which start on February 7 around Sochi, a resort on the Black Sea, 450 miles southwest of Volgograd. In a video posted online in July, the Chechen leader of insurgents who want to carve an Islamic state out of the swathe of mainly Muslim provinces south of Volgograd, urged militants to use "maximum force" to prevent the Games from going ahead.

Today's "Hot Topic" On The Hannity Forums:
Wait - I thought if you liked your doctor, you could keep him/her... - wonderingrover
If so, then why are the people in the article below scramming to get tests and procedures done this year while they can still see their current doctors? I know - they must not have heard that you can keep your current doctor. Oh, but wait, the article states that some networks are more restrictive under the Exchange plans:

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