From the January/February 2014 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


For many people, the enrollment process was fraught with frustration. Many who enrolled through the online federal insurance marketplace could not access the website but those who could log on and create an account ran into issues when the glitches caused them to sign up for more than one insurance plan or send incomplete data to the insurance companies.

“When patients went on, excited to try to get insurance, to not have it work for the first month and a half, I think was disconcerting to some people,” says Reid Blackwelder, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.


Even if people made it through the enrollment process without any issues, the New Year brought in new problems. When they purchased their health plans, many files were corrupted or misplaced on the way from the government website to the insurance company’s database.

The insurance companies refer to the people who don’t appear in the insurer’s database but whose enrollment the government has records of as “orphans,” and “ghosts” are those who show up in the insurer’s database, but aren’t on the government’s list of people who enrolled. Because of this, physicians and pharmacists are unable to verify that these people are insured.

Despite all of the setback over the past few months, the public seems to be split about the new law. A Rasmussen Reports survey released on January 13 included 1,000 likely U.S. voters and found that 56 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the new law.

But even more problems could await individuals seeking bargain insurance if they purchase one of the less expensive insurance plans, according to Richard Duszak, the chief medical officer at the American College of Radiology.

“A lot of folks are just going for the cheap amount not necessarily understanding that there are deductibles associated with this,” says Duszak.

Those who choose bronze plans, for example, might have lower insurance premiums but high deductibles and some plans will not pay for a doctor visit until they pay that deductible. “There is a concern that patients who choose to have high deductibles are still going to need to have their medical problems addressed so the challenges of people still having to come in and work with their physicians is real,” says Blackwelder.

Blackwelder hopes that patients will find a way to prioritize their health issues even in the setting of high deductible plans that will cause them to pay out-of-pocket for their health needs. He adds that at least they will have some coverage under the new health reform law that they didn’t have before.

January/February 2014 Magazine

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