Dive Brief:
- Health plans are cutting thousands of physicians from their managed care networks, in part due to pressures imposed by the ACA.
- Physicians that don't get kicked out of payer networks are facing big cuts in reimbursement.
- UnitedHealth Group, Humana, Aetna and WellPoint have all confirmed that they plan to drop doctors from the networks. More insurers are likely to follow.
Dive Insight:
At one point in payer history, bragging about their large networks of hospitals and physicians was a key selling point. Now, one would assume, they're going to be competing on price -- which has never really worked given the variables in selling policies -- and quality, which they just aren't that good at documenting. Perhaps they truly need to cut their networks to save money, but you've got to wonder how they'll sell this to their constituency. Consumers are NOT going to be happy about this.