Health insurance mergers are why your doctor is leaving

In a lot of towns there is only one health insurer left, and that is starting to show up in patient care. Rita Agarwal is a pediatric anesthesiologist who started asking why colleagues in a specialty she loves are heading for the door. This episode is based on her article "Insurance consolidation is a patient safety problem," published on KevinMD. She explains why anesthesiology went from a top residency choice to the specialty with the highest intent to leave, and what happens to a team when the people in the room have never worked together. You will hear how a single-payer market leaves a hospital with no room to negotiate, why federal Medicaid cuts hit rural and pediatric hospitals hardest, and what it looks like when patients drive hours for care that used to be down the road. She is candid that most physicians, including her, sat out this fight for years. Press play to hear why she thinks this is unsustainable, and what she is asking physicians to do about it.

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