How does Bernie's plan account for Doctors & Specialists who won't take patients from Single Payer?

[Yavin4]

Millions of Americans have health care plans that they like. For example, there are unionized workers who have good healthcare plans. These Americans have doctors and specialists available on their current plans. If these same doctors and specialists refuse to take patients from a Single payer plan just from private health insurance plans, how does Bernie's plan adjust for that?

Hillary's healthcare plan is based on maintaining the ACA which allows people to keep their current plan. She wants to build on it and improve it:

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/health-care/


--On edit--
How will women's re-productive healthcare be administered? Will contraceptives be covered? Will abortions be covered?

[Duckhunter935]

1. keep those insurance companies

Fat and happy

[FreakinDJ]

14. Only 1 game in town - they'll go out of business

[TheBlackAdder]

19. Wow! President Obama is taking steps to FORCE doctors to take insurer's rates!

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President Obama's budget targets 'surprise' medical bills

Embedded within President Barack Obama's 2017 budget for HHS (PDF) is a provision to "eliminate surprise out-of-network healthcare charges for privately insured patients." Details are scant, but the administration would try to solve the problem by requiring physicians who "regularly provide services in hospitals" to accept in-network rates, even if they aren't in the insurer's network. Hospitals would also have to "take reasonable steps" to ensure patients see in-network physicians.

Patients face unexpected charges usually because of large payment disagreements between insurance companies and physicians. Physicians refuse to participate in an insurer's network, arguing insurers are low-balling them, but insurers say doctors ask for unreasonably high rates. Hospitals, and patients, are often left in the middle.

Under Obama's budget, patients would be removed from the disputes, and physicians would have to cave to the insurers' rates. That differs from New York, which recently passed a law that set up an arbitration process for insurers and providers to work out their differences while holding the patients harmless. Other states such as Pennsylvania also are looking into ways to solve the issue.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/15/1484207/-President-Obama-s-budget-targets-surprise-medical-bills


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[Perogie]

2. So will Sanders plan until the transition to single payer.

Why would Doctors refused to get paid? I think the money the Government will use to pay the doctor is still legal tender in the USA.

[kryptoniandawn]

3. Good point

When I lived in the south, most doctors would not accept any insurance obtained through the marketplace, and we're happy to tell you this was entirely because they didn't like Obama.

[flaval]

9. Same here

I live in Florida and my doctor does not take the exchange plans either. I do not have insurance and I just pay him the office visit when I go.

[napi21]

4. AFAIK there is still private health ins. available for those who want MORE.

Private doctors, private hospitals etc. That's the way it is in the EU. There will alwys be soe procedures not covered by public healthcare, like cosmetic surgery, and various other electives.

[Yavin4]

6. What about a woman's re-productive choices?

Will contraceptives be covered? What about abortion procedures?

[Warren Stupidity]

16. Comprehensive.

Of course the current incarnation of the Hyde amendment, signed by Clinton, would have to be repealed to permit abortion funding.

[napi21]

20. It is in EU, but here it may not be because of the law, proposed by Jessee Helms.

NO FED dollars to fund abortions. That would be a very difficult law to overturn.

[jeff47]

5. Because those doctors want a dramatic decrease in their business?

Methinks this isn't really that big a problem.

Hillary's healthcare plan is based on maintaining the ACA which allows people to keep their current plan. She wants to build on it and improve it:

And it relies on the unicorn of Republicans passing legislation to build on the ACA. So odd for the candidate that's supposed to understand how things really work.

[Yavin4]

7. Or, maybe they'll just service the wealthy to make up the lost business?

Under Bernie's plan, the government decides the level of compensation for health services and pharmaceuticals. What level would that be?

[Luminous Animal]

13. How would the wealthy, who are few in number, be able to sustain an entire professional class?

[Recursion]

21. Concierge physicians are already a thing, and that's without the 40% rate cuts we're talking about

I'd expect that to increase. Even if we could undo the AMA's absurd med school class size restrictions, that would take, what, another 8 years before that produced more actual certified physicians?

[jeff47]

23. There's not that big a market for personal doctors or close to it.

To actually pay them, you have to be pretty well off. There's a whole lot more people in the bottom 95% of the population.

If a huge swath of doctors attempt to play only for the top 5%, prices for those doctors go down...and suddenly those negotiated prices don't look quite so bad.

[angstlessk]

8. Just like in the good old days...a chicken for an abortion

sounds fair?

[earthshine]

10. My understanding is that most doctors hate dealing with private insurance.

Single-payer will be much simpler in terms of paperwork and payment negotiations.

The same issues you raise (e.g., whether or not they will pay for abortions, contraception, elective surgeries, etc.) are things that any type of healthcare financial system has to deal with.

Personally I would much rather have the government between me and my doctor, than any insurance company.

Remember how Sarah Palin spoke of death panels, implying that's what government-controlled would be? The real death panels are the insurance company actuaries.

[Yavin4]

11. Their biggest gripe is the level of compensation from the private insurers

Will Bernie's plan pay them more or less than what they're getting from the insurance companies? What about pharamceuticals?

The same issues you raise (e.g., whether or not they will pay for abortions, contraception, elective surgeries, etc.) are things that any type of healthcare financial system has to deal with.

Okay. So how does Bernie's plan deal with it?

[earthshine]

15. Sorry I wasn't clear. In the same manner as any other payer-type system.

I am not an actuary, so I don't know the details on how the current system does it. So, I cannot describe how it is going to work in terms of some kind of common reference.

What is the point? Think you'll sway any Bernie supporters by begging your own questions?

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

12. On the flip side,

How does Hillary's plan solve the fact that I currently have to drive 30 minutes to a hospital in the next town because the one 5 minutes from my house doesn't take my insurance plan? It's especially awesome in an emergency, when I can choose to go to the closer hospital and pay potentially thousands of dollars out of pocket or risk going to the farther one to save money.

[mainer]

17. Same way they do it in the UK

Where there are both NHS doctors and private doctors, as well as premium insurance plans for those who want to go outside the system. Bernie's brother is a longtime resident of the U.K. so he knows their system well.

[Logical]

18. LOL, we loved single payer before Bernie wanted it. nt

[AgingAmerican]

22. They will have to move to a country that doesn't have single payer (third world)

Or only see people with private insurance.