As the Obama administration begins to enact the new national health care law, the country’s biggest insurers are promoting affordable plans with reduced premiums that require participants to use a narrower selection of doctors or hospitals.
The plans, being tested in places like San Diego, New York and Chicago, are likely to appeal especially to small businesses that already provide insurance to their employees, but are concerned about the ever-spiraling cost of coverage.
But large employers, as well, are starting to show some interest, and insurers and consultants expect that, over time, businesses of all sizes will gravitate toward these plans in an effort to cut costs.
The tradeoff, they say, is that more Americans will be asked to pay higher prices for the privilege of choosing or keeping their own doctors if they are outside the new networks. That could come as a surprise to many who remember the repeated assurances from President Obama and other officials that consumers would retain a variety of health-care choices.
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See Also:
Changing Stance, Administration Now Defends Insurance Mandate as a Tax
Updates:
2:17 pm EDT, July 18th, 2010 — NOVACK: Health insurance mandate meets reality
So this brave new world is forcing patients to doctors they don’t know or want – and better yet the government will not pay for medical services that they don’t approve of – my goodness its like deja vu all over again. How’s your BMI index – that is soooo necessary - the food police will be along shortly to harass and shame you. If you don’t meet the skinny test, you have a free membership at the Fat is Hell Club (guilt, shame and arugula just for you). They will have to stave me out of my house – I have enough food for six months. I am prepared for AGW, being nuked by the Iranians and the caring and sharing bureaucrats. Cheers.