Sen. Lisa Murkowski held a roundtable health care reform event Wednesday at the University of Alaska Anchorage to discuss the Affordable Care Act.
The event consisted of three panelists and a roomful of people who came together to discuss how the divisive federal law was affecting Alaskans, both in support and opposition of the bill.
The roundtable event covered multiple topics, including its effects on everything from small businesses to Alaska real estate, but the topic that had most people talking was the fate of primary care physicians.
Family practice physician Ilona Farr was one person who attended the event, hoping to express her concerns in regards to the future of her practice.
“Basically it’s going to force me out of business,” Farr said. “It’s going to tax me as a private individual, it’s going to force me to provide substandard care to my patients because of all the government mandates.”
Along with not being able to provide proper care for her patients, Farr says that the bill will increase her costs and interfere with her ability to keep her patients’ information secure.
“That’s going to be costly,” Farr said. “It’s going to be very time-consuming and it’s going to interfere with my security so I can keep the privacy of my patients data.”
Farr isn’t the only doctor concerned about the potential problems facing practitioners. According to a survey by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, 83 percent of physicians nationwide are considering resigning or retiring because of the Affordable Care Act -- leaving patients like Geri Heiner scratching her head.
“Are they retiring out of anger?” Heiner said. “Are they truly retiring because that’s what they want to do? Because if they truly care about the patients, then maybe they would find other means to stay on board.”
Heiner and her family are big supporters of the new Affordable Care Act, having benefited firsthand.
“I have twin daughters so I was able to put both of them back on my health insurance,” Heiner said. “They have had no health care for about four or five years, so we’ve had to pay out of pocket.”
Heiner says she hopes she’ll never again have to ask her daughters if they think they’re sick enough to go to the emergency room, or if they can hold off until Monday to save money.
“I’ve had to ask that when they were very young,” Heiner said. “A 5-year-old should not have to answer that question. A parent or an individual should not have to ask that of their child.”
The Affordable Care Act went into effect in 2010, with remaining provisions being continuing to be phased in by 2020.
