Dr. David A Stein, a pediatrician whose private practice is located in Burlington, NC, offers insight as to how Obamacare intends to increase access to health care, yet reality tells a different story:
The ACA dramatically increased bureaucrats’ ability to dictate how we practice medicine. Beyond the law itself, it has led to a raft of new government regulations that affect insurance companies, doctors’ offices, the relationship between the two, and how both groups interact with patients. Ultimately, weaving our way through this red tape requires spending more time filling out and filing paperwork, which translates into less time treating our patients.
In our practice, this has resulted in each physician spending three to four more hours per week on clerical work compared to when the ACA was passed in 2010.
That time adds up — and the aggregate effect nationwide is profound.
In 2012, physicians spent fully 22 percent of their time performing nonclinical paperwork, displacing the equivalent of 165,000 full-time doctors in a single year, according to one recent report.
Put another way: The administrative burdens imposed by the ACA and government bureaucracies replaced 165,000 stethoscopes with pencils and pens.
These administrative burdens in many instances result in fewer patients being seen. Physicians now are seeing about 20 percent fewer patients in a day than before the passage of the ACA.
Read the full op-ed here:
