Covered California has removed its directories of participating physicians and offered to let unhappy consumers switch heath care plans if misled.
“While the combined provider directory was a useful service for many consumers, some enrollees located physicians thought to be in their plan, and subsequently discovered they were not,” the state Obamacare operation announced late Feb. 6.
The Covered California site carries links to insurance carriers’ provider directories. These directories, however, may well be the source of the errors on the Covered California directory.
People who bought insurance policies through Covered California and aren’t able to use a listed physician and contact the carrier but “find the resolution unsatisfactory” can switch policies before the end of the first Affordable Care Act open enrollment period, March 31.
Covered California offered this advice:
Enrollees who selected a Covered California plan based on the provider directory on the exchange web site should contact the health insurance plan to verify the provider is in the network, or to ask for a different provider in their area.
A Covered California spokeswoman also suggested consumers contact physicians directly to ensure they are accepting Affordable Care Act patients.
Physicians directories and quality ratings for the Obamacare health insurance providers have been a headache for Covered California since it began operations. In late January, it returned carrier quality ratings to the California web site.
The Los Angeles Times earlier this month ran a story detailing patient frustrations in getting care from physicians listed as being in their networks. One consumer called his HMO “a phantom network.”
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has said the quality of health care networks will be a major issue under Obamacare.
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