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Now Obama's sending out 'snoopers' to pose as patients so they can check up on doctors
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| Contributor | kal |
| Last Edited | kal Jun 28, 2011 11:46am |
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| Category | General |
| Media | Newspaper - Daily Mail |
| News Date | Tuesday, June 28, 2011 05:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Obama administration officials are putting together a team of 'mystery shoppers' to pose as patients, call doctors’ offices and request appointments to see how difficult it is for people to get care when they need it.
The move follows increasing alarm over the shortage of primary care doctors.
The administration says the survey will address the shortage and try to discover whether doctors are accepting patients with private insurance while turning away those in government health programmes that pay lower reimbursement rates.
Federal officials predict that more than 30 million Americans will gain coverage under the health care law passed last year.
'These newly insured Americans will need to seek out new primary care physicians, further exacerbating the already growing problem' of a shortage of such physicians in the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a description of the project prepared for the White House.
Plans for the survey have riled many doctors because the secret shoppers will not identify themselves as working for the government.
Dr. Raymond Scalettar, an internist in Washington, said: 'I don’t like the idea of the government snooping. It’s a pernicious practice - Big Brother tactics, which should be opposed.'
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