Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Sacred "Doctor/Patient Relationship"

In the health care reform debate, one of the frequent messages is that "you will be able to keep the same doctor."  Apparently some people are concerned that they will lose the greatest physician ever.- theirs.  What everyone forgets is that employers usually only have three-year contracts with insurance carriers.  When I worked in the commercial insurance world, the turnover of employers was about 20% a year.  That is, every year, 1 in 5 of employers opted to go with a different insurer or health plan. In this situation, employees are frequently forced to select another physician.  The government did not cause this to happen.  The employer did.  In addition, providers drop out of networks, forcing the covered individual to find a new one.  The government does not cause this to happen, the provider does.   I am still wondering why people think insurance companies and providers are their friends?  Its a business relationship! Its not all warm and fuzzy!

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