As Washington grapples with the question of delaying or de-funding Obamacare, one doctor in Texas says the health care law should be de-funded immediately to ensure patients’ health care is not rationed.
One aspect of rationing could occur if doctors like Dr. Tim Shepherd, who has run a family practice in Lewisville, Texas, for 35 years, are forced to close their doors because the cost of operating the practice outweighs the benefits.
“There’s a lot of administrative work already, which is taking away from patient care,” he said. Of the practice’s 15 employees, five do only paperwork, and they are constantly fighting with insurance companies and Medicare.
So it’s no wonder Dr. Shepherd is dreading the layers of bureaucracy Obamacare creates—layers he’ll have to fight through to treat his patients. His practice will be faced with more government regulation and will be increasingly dependent on unreliable government reimbursement for medical services.
Shepherd said many family doctors just like him are either retiring or leaving their practices to join large medical corporations. He said doctors are being told their individual practices can’t survive the pressure of Obamacare’s administrative costs.
But Shepherd doesn’t want to give up or change his practice because of Obamacare.
“People having choice is a very important part of medical care,” Shepherd emphasized. People have a personal connection with their family doctors, but Obamacare will take away that freedom of choice.
While Shepherd is determined to look for innovative ways to keep his family practice independent, he knows the hazards of Obamacare are real. He doesn’t want doctors to be forced to give up on their patients, and that’s why he’s advocating for a full defunding of Obamacare.
“I am a believer in defunding Obamacare because I think it’s going to be a disaster for our country,” he said.
