How Increased Patient Populations Will Affect Your Family Health Insurance Plans

By Dan Abrams


With the realization of accessible health insurance for all, many are concerned of the effects this can have on their current family health insurance. Now, there are many millions of uninsured in California alone. The positive side of having the ability to cover these individuals is the undeniable fact that they'll now be able to access medical care they have long gone without.

The negative? These people will now be able to access the medical care they have lone gone without, in your doctor's office, your hospice, and so on. The flood of new patients is expected to be enormous, and can come at a cost. While it may only take a couple of days to see your doctor for a medical concern now, this might doubtless take weeks once everything is in force. Trauma rooms that currently have a waiting time of hours might soon take evolve into a waiting time approaching days.

Once the Affordable Care Act is prepared Covered California (California's health insurance exchange for people and smaller enterprises) is expecting about 2.6 million residents looking for family health insurance through the exchange, and another 2.4 million qualifying for family health insurance thru Medi-Cal. People with newly purchased health coverage will be looking for medical therapy, frequently after neglecting a minor condition which now becomes a chronic issue. This not only means more doctor visits, but more expensive treatments. With a deficit of family doctors in California already a serious issue, getting in for a cough or a cold may be next to impossible. The ultimate result might be an inflow of non-necessary ER visits, or specialists having to put imperative patients on hold to prescribe antibiotics for a common cold.

So how are medical care providers planning on handling this? The most vital component will be education, both on the side of the supplier as well as the consumer. Family health insurance plans should be available to all and utilized too. However , our health system is already in a critical state, and cannot take on much more of a load without some much wanted repair. For instance, Medi-Cal doesn't have many providers in the system, so adding members doesn't imply a successful program. As a consequence, many fit for family health insurance policies through the Medi-Cal system may struggle to find a doctor to look after them. providers and hospitals need to start planning now on how to handle all these upcoming issues.

A technique to keep folk from employing a vital doctor visit for a minor health issue is to increase education about easy walk in hospitals located in several pharmacies. These "minute hospitals" can supply flu shots, basic health analyses, and even be in a position to prescribe medication for any person in need. Most will be covered by the family health insurance plans, and can take the load off of ER rooms and doctor offices. Another idea is to have a doctor oversee a grouping of health practitioners, such as a physician's assistant, who will supply care to those not requiring more specialized attention. Hopefully everyone can work in cooperation to make this new system a viable solution to our current health care situation.




About the Author: