From family physician Dr. Holly Abernethy, who owns a private practice in Farmington, New Mexico, with three other doctors. She is turning away all newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries because she cannot pay her practice’s expenses and maintain her income if the proportion of Medicaid patients grows beyond the current 13 percent. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid became the vehicle for covering about a third of nation’s uninsured, and reimbursements are capped.
“I would love to see every Medicaid patient that comes through my door,” Dr. Abernethy says. “If you give people coverage, they should be able to utilize it.” But making it work would extend her workday, and “I have three small children and I miss them.” The Wall Street Journal, “More Join Medicaid, Straining Health Systems,” 11/14/14
Economics 101: if the demand for a good or service is increased (Obamacare and the increase in Medicaid patients), while the number of suppliers of that good or service stays the same or decreases (there are only so many hours in a doctor’s day, and many of them are planning on taking early retirement or have already done so), the price of that good or service must rise if supply is to equal demand. But of course, the first word of the ACA is “Affordable,” which means price controls and limited reimbursements, which means shortages. So yes, millions have received some sort of medical insurance under Obamacare, and perhaps its even affordable. Whether they receive any medical care is another question. Economics 101 suggests that many of them will suffer the same fate as patients in other nations, including Canada and Great Britain, that have nationalized or semi-nationalized health services: long waits for substandard medical care.
