Less than 11% of physicians expect the health exchanges to be ready by the October 1 deadline, and most have no idea what to expect when newly insured patients start arriving for treatment in January 2014, according to a LocumTenens.com survey. Shane Jackson of LocumTenens.com said that physicians’ practices will play a major role in helping people who’ve never had insurance to understand how it works. So the major lack of awareness among physicians and patients is troubling.
More than 56% of physicians don’t know how the new policies will affect their businesses; 70% don’t know how the claims process will work; and 67% are not familiar with patient coverage terms that might affect payment for services, such as grace periods. Fifty five percent of physicians expect their bad debt to increase under the Affordable Care Act.
Physicians expect their patient volume to increase by 13.4% due to the new insurance access. Eighty-nine percent say that consumers have not been adequately educated about how these new insurance policies will function. For more information, visit www.locumtenens.com.
