Patterico's Pontifications

3/14/2014

Breaking: Obama Admits: If You Like Your Doctor, You, Uh, Might Not Be Able to Keep Him

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:23 am



Obama dropped the bomb that you and I both knew was coming in an interview with WebMD (via Grabien.com):

What we have said is, for example, if you’re in the middle of life-saving treatment with a particular doctor, then we will work to make sure that you can keep, uh, that treatment, and not shift. But for the average person, many folks who don’t who don’t have health insurance initially, um, you know, they’re gonna have to make some choices, and, they might end up having to switch doctors, in part because they’re saving money. But that’s true, you know, if, if, your employer suddenly decides: we think this network’s gonna give a better deal, we think this is gonna help keep premiums lower, uh, you gotta use this doctor as opposed to that one, or this hospital as opposed to that one. Uh, the good news is, in most states, people have more than one option. And, you know, what they’ll find, I think is that their doctor, or network, or hospital that’s conveniently located is probably in one of those networks. Now, you may find out that that network’s more expensive than another network. And then you’ve gotta make a choice in terms of what’s right for your family. Do you want to save on cost, or do you want to save on convenience?

It’s a pretty far cry from “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”

First, no matter what you’ve heard, if you like your doctor or health care plan, you can keep it.

The new version is basically: “If you like your doctor, you can keep him . . . if you want to pay more.” We have heard that before from Zeke Emanuel. Now we’re hearing it from Obama.

Will Big Media pick up on this? It’s a big story, so I would assume the answer is no.


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