Thousands of health insurance customers are scrambling for coverage after their polices were cancelled because they don't meet Obamacare standards.
Cookie Klein kept close tabs on the rollout of the new Affordable Care Act. As a breast cancer survivor she wanted to make sure she could keep her same doctors at Moffitt Cancer Center.
“They’re like family. I'm sorry, it means everything to me. I feel like they saved my life,” said Klein.
When Klein got a phone call last week that her United Healthcare advantage plan would be dropping Moffitt as a provider she and 50,000 other Bay area residents with the same plan were faced with a choice.
“I don't want to lose Moffitt. I've got to go through the enrollment period again with Medicare and find somebody where Moffit is on the list.
USF Health Professor Dr. Jay Wolfson said it's a cost cutting measure for insurance companies but also could save money for patients too.
He said not only United Healthcare is making the cuts.
Florida Blue told 300,000 Bay area residents they will lose their individual policies because of the Affordable Care Act. Wolfson said it’s not bad news because it will be cheaper in most cases for patients.
“There's no need for people to buy personal insurance. It's too expensive. Blue Cross recognizes that,” said Wolfson.
Now, Wolfson said those 300,000 people will be able to receive cheaper and better policies through the new healthcare exchanges.
Klein says cheaper does sound better but nothing can replace doctors you know and trust. For now she's in limbo as millions of others try to navigate the new health care system and figure out what it means for them.
The changes take effect January 1.
United Healthcare released the following statement:
We are making changes to focus our network more around the needs of our members, offering access to physicians who in our view can provide quality, affordable care for more of the people enrolled in our plans.