“Several employees expressed concern that they cannot obtain affordable coverage for dependents. The ACA considers a person and their family exempt from receiving a government subsidy if anyone in the family is offered affordable coverage through their employer, even if their employer does not cover dependents. Shepherd Eye Center offers affordable healthcare for employees, and employees have the option to add dependents at their own expense.

So, an employee can add her husband to our plan, but she will pay a lot out of her paycheck for it. Her husband could not get a subsidy through the exchange because SEC’s coverage is labeled as affordable. If the employee can’t afford to put her husband on our plan and they can’t get him cheaper healthcare coverage on the exchange, eventually her husband will be penalized for not having insurance.

On another note, new employees like how they get healthcare after 60 days instead of 90.”

“I think there currently are more questions than answers, when it comes to the ACA.

Our patients are asking ‘is the doctor still on my insurance plan?’ They fear losing their doctor. Our patients also fear losing their insurance or not being able to afford their current insurance. They have already seen a significant increase in their deductibles.

For example, our glaucoma patients are affected by insurance companies who will not cover medications that have been controlling patients’ intraocular pressure for years. They’re being forced to change to a different medication. We try to help them in anyway we can by making phone calls, writing letters, etc. However, we find insurance companies generally, won’t budge.

We fear losing the sacred doctor-patient relationship and the ability to provide the best care and the best procedures for each and every one of our patients.”

“A few months ago, our practice was dropped by its health care insurance provider. We tried to work through their system of appeals to no avail. As of now, this has not had a major impact on the practice; however, we remain concerned about the reach it could have on our patients. It’s difficult to predict the fallout from ACA on third party payers.

From what we can tell, our patients’ reactions to ACA fall into three categories:

1. This first group seems to be unaffected on the whole. For this group, personal healthcare remains business as usual. They are in a “hope for the best” mindset.

2. The second group are those patients who were notified that their doctor or insurance can no longer participate in their healthcare. They are unsettled and worried.

3. The third group’s mindset is more one of quiet malaise. As far as their health care is concerned, they are pretty much in the same position as before, but are more worried about what the future holds than ever.

Ultimately, the future of our health care system remains uncertain. That said, uncertainty will not change our focus on outstanding outcomes and the patient experience.”