Where Have All the Doctors Gone?

Those enrolled in ObamaCare health exchange plans are having to deal with narrower physician and hospital networks and sometimes loss of their own doctors and favorite hospitals.

ObamaCare health exchange plans 42% fewer oncologists, 42% fewer heart specialists, 32% fewer primary care doctors, and 24% fewer hospitals.

Or, as the Obama administration puts it a more positive light, you can now go to 76% of hospitals and see 68% of primary care physicians 58% of cancer and heart doctors, 68% of mental health specialists.

For those of you who are not rocket scientists, the purpose of this narrowing of choice is to cut health care costs by using lower cost doctors and hospitals. Some critics call this process the race to the bottom and rationing down, but these cynics tend to know the price of everything but the price of nothing.

Where have all the doctors gone for ObamaCare health exchange enrollees.

Some have gone from primary care into higher-paid specialties with shorter hours for a better life style.



Some have gone into hospital, big groups, and urgent care employment for economic security and malpractice coverage.



Some have gone into retirement, part-time work, or other lines of professional activities.



Some have gone into hibernation by not seeing patients on government programs, or seeing fewer of them.



Some have gone into direct primary care or direct specialty or surgical care, to direct care in urgicenters to escape the hassles and shackles of ObamaCare, to avoid buying electronic health record systems and ICD-10 coding, and to spend more time with patients rather than data gathering and record keeping.

Doctors may be gone for some, but they are not forgotten.