I am deeply concerned women are bearing the brunt of Obamacare.
By Dr. Dawn Buckingham
AUSTIN Texas (Texas Insider Report) When I entered private practice 12 years ago the American healthcare system was already crumbling.
Medicare & Medicaid were going broke and insurance companies were making it hard for people to get the care they need.
While reform was needed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has actually made the situation worse. Next year I will join the
ranks of Texans who are trying to navigate the impossible insurance market under Obamacare.
President Obama promised that if you liked your doctor you could keep your doctor. He also promised that if you liked your healthcare plan you could keep it. I have seen the broken promises first hand.
Last year I learned my familys personal healthcare plan was being cancelled.
Another broken promise is keeping your doctor. The narrow networks created by Obamacare have forced many of my patients to change doctors. Additionally the bureaucracy of practicing medicine has increased exponentially.
In my group of six physicians we have added staff to deal with the increased paperwork.
New Obamacare guidelines have cost our practice nearly one million dollars.- We have endured four audits none of which have yielded any fraud or abuse.
- These audits and the paperwork nightmare are forcing doctors out of practice and further jeopardizing the delivery of quality care.
Additionally I am deeply concerned that women are bearing the brunt of Obamacare. The provision of Obamacare that penalizes employers is forcing businesses to reduce the number of full-time employees. Thus more and more workers are working part-time and earning less.
In a recent study by the Mercatus Center it was found that women were twice as likely as men to be moved to part-time. As more and more women lose their full-time employment and benefits a downward financial spiral ensues.
On of my patients Carlie is a classic and sad example.
She and her husband were both laid off and could not find work for several years. The financial stress grew after their daughter was born and they divorced. Unemployed and
desperate Carlie signed up for Obamacare.
I had been treating her for a rare condition called blepharospasm. With this condition the eyelids close and the patient is literally blinded. To alleviate these symptoms patients receive multiple injections of Botox every three months to relax the muscles and allow the eyelids to open.
I had been treating her on this schedule for over a decade. My office called her new insurance company to get approval for the Botox and we were told the visit and treatment were approved. We treated Carlie but then her insurance company rescinded approval and she was left with over a thousand-dollar balance for the treatments.
She is now a single mother caring for her two-year-old daughter and struggling to pay for treatment.
In my own experience its become increasingly clear that Obamacare will accelerate the crash of our healthcare system and must be repealed.
Doctors are trying their best to jump through the necessary hoops to get the approvals to treat their patients. As more time has to be spent on paperwork less time can be spent treating the patient.
The government states that they are creating a high quality efficient medical system. In reality they are creating an inefficient system in which patients and physicians are frustrated and the bureaucracy destroys any efficiency or improved quality.
President Obama and Congress should listen to Republican leaders in Texas like Governor Perry Governor-Elect Greg Abbott Lt. Governor-Elect Dan Patrick and Attorney General-Elect Ken Paxton who have called for a block grant from the federal government to deal with the states healthcare system. Texas is a unique mosaic of healthcare delivery. We have vast rural areas densely populated urban areas and everything in between.
A unique approach to health care that supports individual choice and encourages individual responsibility is the only foreseeable way to fix our healthcare system.
The one size fits none Obamacare system is not working.
Dr. Dawn Buckingham is a preferred Oculoplastic Reconstructive & Cosmetic Surgeon in Austin Texas. She is an active member of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) where she serves as chair of the Council on Legislation.
