‘Sorry, We Don’t Take Obamacare’: The New York Times

Summary: “Amy Moses and her circle of self-employed small-business owners were supporters of President Obama and the Affordable Care Act,” Elisabeth Rosenthal writes in The New York Times, looking at the A.C.A. landscape. “They bought policies on the newly created New York State exchange. But when they called doctors and hospitals in Manhattan to schedule appointments, they were dismayed to be turned away again and again with a common refrain: ‘We don’t take Obamacare,’ the umbrella epithet for the hundreds of plans offered through the president’s signature health legislation. “Anyone who is on these plans knows it’s a two-tiered system,” said Ms. Moses, describing the emotional sting of those words to a successful entrepreneur. ‘Anytime one of us needs a doctor,’ she continued, ‘we send out an alert: “Does anyone have anyone on an exchange plan that does mammography or colonoscopy? Who takes our insurance?” It’s really a problem.’ The goal of the Affordable Care Act, which took effect in 2013, was to provide insurance to tens of millions of uninsured or under-insured Americans, through online state and federal marketplaces offering an array of policies. By many measures, the law has been a success: The number of uninsured Americans has dropped by about half, with 20 million more people gaining coverage. It has also created a host of new policies for self-employed people like Ms. Moses, who previously had insurance but whose old plans were no longer offered. Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Sorry, We Don’t Take Obamacare,” The New York Times.