Our Dubious Healthcare, Here

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imp

Senior Member
We are rural. Few insurors available, things change quickly. My wife's Principal Care Provider, her doctor, for a bit over a year now, no longer appears listed as accepting her insurance. Real sudden.

My PCP was listed (she and I have different plans) by her insurer previously, now also not listed. I don't know yet if I too have lost him. Pretty bad situation when one cannot even keep a doctor for more than a year!

So, my unknown is, how often do both spouses use the same doctor? Would that have both advantages and disadvantages? Her doctor is a lady, mine a guy. I really liked him after 2 other very poor experiences, and hope I have not "lost" him. imp
 

I wonder if either of your insurers is Blue Cross/Blue Shield -- they are pulling out of the New Mexico market because our Superintendent of Insurance wouldn't let them double their rates. There's another insuror here that most providers won't accept anymore because they take forever to pay or don't pay according to contract.

I don't see why it would be a problem for both spouses to share the same doctor.
 
I have Phoenix Health Care, my wife HealthNet. No PCP's shown are particularly appealing to us. We are trapped in the "retiree choose and lose" medic forum here. Neither of us has been seriously ill while under these plans. Still, should they "pull" Mohave County Hospital records for history. imp
 

Rural healthcare options are decreasing...all over the nation. As more of these insurers feel "squeezed" by the provisions of the ACA, they are placing their resources in the more profitable urban areas. Plus, the increasing cost of Malpractice Insurance is driving more doctors into early retirement. Add to these factors the fact that the AMA lobbies hard to limit the number of new doctors being turned out by our universities...so as to stifle anything resembling competition, and the die is being cast for future stress in our health care system.

Between our greedy Health Care Industry, and the army of Ambulance Chasing Lawyers, people would be well advised to take good care of their health.
 
I don't believe it's the ACA's fault at all Don. Doctors tend to cluster in the more populated areas.. More patients... more money... Living in a large metropolitan area affords one a huge choice of PCPs and Specialists. I've never had a problem finding one... only problem was which one did my insurance cover. But even then I had several choices.
 
The ACA is just part of the equation that is reducing the number of doctors in some of these rural areas. We had a basic "bumps and bruises" clinic in our town, 3 miles away, until last year. The lady doctor who ran it had been there for many years, and she just had 1 nurse helping her. Then, with the increasing BS from the insurance companies, and the increased paperwork, etc., mandated by the ACA, and ever increasing Malpractice Insurance rates, she threw in the towel last year, and retired. She was faced with having to hire an extra person just to handle the added paperwork, and was going to have to start charging quite a bit more for her services, so she said Enough.

Doctors have always been in short supply in the countryside, and it is only going to get worse, as more and more of these small clinics close their doors. Living in a major city certainly affords more access to health care, but it also exposes a person to all the crime and pollution, etc., that goes with these cities. It's a trade off, but having experienced both lifestyles, I dread the thought of having to move back to one of these Urban Zoo's.
 
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As Don points out, living urban solely because of needed adequate medical care is a p/p option. Some of the "conspiracy folks" even theorize that the "master plan" includes elimination of rural lifestyles! I am not quite that nuts, but have to admit Urban Living has become the "in-thing", for whatever the reasons.

I've experienced both urban and even extreme rural, and have to admit, the free and easy feeling prevailing in rural living is pretty appealing, to me. imp
 
QuickSilver said:
I don't believe it's the ACA's fault at all Don. Doctors tend to cluster in the more populated areas.. More patients... more money... Living in a large metropolitan area affords one a huge choice of PCPs and Specialists. I've never had a problem finding one... only problem was which one did my insurance cover. But even then I had several choices.
Click to expand...

Our nearest metropolis is about 200,000 population. There are 2 hospitals and many many doctor's offices..Most Drs that I have talked to and heard stories from all hate the ACA..
 

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