A Doctor’s Perspective On Obamacare Plans

obamacareBy Jeffrey Cohen, WNPR



That’s not something he’s willing to accept.


Three insurers offered plans on Connecticut’s ACA marketplace in 2014and Gerard is only accepting one. He won’t say which, but he will say it pays the highest rate to doctors.



That worries Kevin Counihan, who runs Connecticut’s health insurance marketplace.






Healthy CT may have missed the balance – just 3 percent of the exchange’s consumers bought the co-op’s insurance in 2014. Lalime says he also thinks low reimbursement rates are forcing some doctors to decide against accepting insurance under the Affordable Care Act.









  1. When you pay peanuts, you hire monkeys.

    Doctors’ personal income is only about 8% of total healthcare costs according to CMS.

    So if all doctors were to work for free forever, from now on, health care costs would drop 8%, ONE TIME.

    I talked to a couple of doctor friends a little while ago, we all drive a Lexus. Mine is the newest, it’s a 2001.

    Next time you or a family member is sick, do us all a favor, call your congressman. Don’t call a doctor, we’re all too busy with our fancy cars. Or move to France.

  2. Wrong way to pay… the VA system has salary doctors that pay attention to service and cures, not profits and repeat business.

    Private doctors see up to 12 patients an hour, the VA about 4, and the quality goes UP when a doctor can spend time with the patient.

    Medical Insurance companies need to look at the doctor’s success rates, not the number of codes filled out on the invoice.

    If a patient is coming back over and over, or going to doctor after doctor, then something is wrong, and it is usually, from my experience, that the doctors are NOT Listening to the Patient, usually a young or very old patient, and therefore is missing the FACTS that are causing tens of thousands to not get cured or to die ….

  3. The average doctor in a private practice makes 136,000 a year income (after expenses). Knock this down down 20% (getting $80 per visit instead of $100). Now the lights go off because he is having to limp along with only $108,000 a year. I’m sorry but doctors will have to expect only twice or three times as much money as the rest of us make.

    • Sean,

      Your math is inaccurate. If you drop total revenue by 20%, the fixed and variable costs of a medical practice are easily rising between 3 and 5 % a year, that would cause a doctor running at a 40% profit margin who was previously making $136,000 a year drop down to $68,000 a year. What doctor do you know wants to go through the rigorous schooling, exams, residencies, schedules, etc. for that kind of money? Not to mention with highs and lows during the year, a monthly profit of only $5K will literally cause docs to have to worry about “keeping the lights on” during a down month or if a piece of equipment goes bad.

      We want our doctors to make money. They provide jobs and better health for the community. I work for a group of ENT doctors in Salt Lake Citydocs and these are real issues that affect more than the doctors’ piggy banks.

      • That is BS. In France, University and Medical School is FREE. No they don’t make the money American docs make… but the education is every bit as hard as it is over here… One huge difference; In France they do it because it is a calling… Not so much in greed sick America.


  4. These doctors act like they’re struggling to get by. Has anyone ever meet a poor doctor?

  5. I guess those new Jaguars will have to go to someone else!

    • They can go to the drug dealers maybe???? And would you give up 12 years of your life so you can drive a piece of crap????

    • The next time you have an ache or a pain go to the internet not someone who is educated and can and will help you. The internet is free and you probably don’t resent it like you obviously resent someone who has made the sacrifice so that the government morons can tell them how to practice their profession.

  6. This is what happens when you have too many hands in the pot! If we had a single payer system like the rest of the western, sane countries, we wouldn’t have this issue.

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