The steady drip of bad news continues.
FRANKLIN, TN (WSMV) – It’s been less a month since the Affordable Care Act started providing health coverage for people who bought insurance through the exchange, and now some people who are going to the doctor for the first time are finding some complications.
“We have health insurance that is worthless,” said customer Shawnna Simpson.
Simpson found out last week the new insurance for which she is paying $600 a month was a bad choice for her family.
Her 15-year-old daughter was hurt in a cheerleading accident, so Simpson called her family doctor only to learn they don’t take her new health plan: Blue Cross Network E.
Ever since, she’s been on the phone with the healthcare exchange, looking for a family doctor in Williamson County that accepts her plan, but finding none.
“We can’t use it in the county where we live,” she said.
The problem is Blue Cross Network E is a micro-network – a very small network with limited doctors and hospitals. Vanderbilt University Medical Center isn’t in it, for example, and neither is TriStar Medical Center.
Simpson’s problem is not isolated, as many people who are just now using their insurance are finding out.
Last year, Channel 4 News interviewed David Pearce, who was excited about enrolling in the healthcare exchange. Then, he showed up for his doctor’s appointment last week.
“Handed them my card, and the girl had this deer in the headlights look and said, ‘I’ll be right back,'” Pierce said.
It turns out his doctor in Murfreesboro doesn’t accept Blue Cross Network E either.
Simpson says the new healthcare law is not working for her family and she says other families may be in the same situation.
“Obamacare is not working. A lot of people that have the same issues we have and don’t know it yet, until they try to use it,” she said.