Hi, I shared previously that our primary care doctor died. When it became clear that he was losing his fight with cancer, he closed his practice and referred patients to Quik Care, a walk-in clinic. However, with an agreement, his patients had priority and could schedule appointments there in advance. That worked well until our new doctor announced that he was leaving due to overhead costs and…wait for it…Obamacare implementation requirements. When I needed to see a doctor earlier this week, I had to “walk-in” and wait. It took me an hour and a half from the time I signed in until I left. Not bad for this kind of a set-up…I caught them in a slow window. I realized that it was probably time to find a dedicated primary care physician. So I embarked on my quest this morning. -I called our insurance carrier and asked for the primary care in-network physicians in our area. There were several, so I was off to a good start…or so I thought. -I got online and narrowed my choices by reading patient reviews and there were also a couple of women which I thought might be nice for me. -I started with my first choice (a woman) and continued going down the list ( and adding to my list) because: Doctors had left or were leaving because of early retirement, changing professions or reluctance to partake in the new regulations associated with Obama/Dems control over health issues, more specifically Obamacare. Doctors were not accepting new patients as they had already begun to accept the overflow from those exiting doctors. Doctors may accept new patients after the dust settles on a number of fronts and they have a chance to re-evaluate after the new year. Doctors will place us on a wait list and will call in the Spring to see if we are still looking for a doctor. Doctors will put us on a wait list after receiving our completed paper work (screening insurance/age/previous health history/??). After that, they may or may not schedule an appointment as openings became available in the new year. Doctors will go ahead and schedule us for after mid-January depending on the doctor and roll-out progress of Obamacare. I had been hearing all of the rumors…and they are no longer rumors ;-( So I got us on one doctor’s schedule for January assuming they will have space at that time. And also asked to be on the wait-list for another doctor and they are sending the paper work to be completed and then we can be on their wait-list. Which ever one becomes available first, we may be set in about 3+ months to re-establish with a dedicated primary care physician. Who knew?!? I am glad I started to be pro-active and not wait until we really needed a new doctor. Can’t wait until Medicare kicks in (joke) and we learn if these doctors (or anyone left) are accepting new Medicare patients. Heaven help us. The next hurdle will be in November when my husband learns from his company what the new terms for employee insurance are. We are nervous because other companies/insurance carriers are transitioning patients to higher co-pays, higher deductibles and less available care. Some companies are dropping spouses and other creative manipulations. At this time, employee hours (dropping below 30 hours as a result of Obamacare) are NOT on the list of considerations. His job looks secure…whew! Hopefully we will be okay for another year. Sorry to be venting my frustration towards you, but my pressure cooker lid was about to explode ;-) Your friend.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 21:36:13 +0000
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