Obamacare leading to healthcare meltdown across USA

(NaturalNews) Among other things, Republicans managed to widen their House majority and take control of the Senate on the promise that they would "repeal and replace" Obamacare. And while most GOP members of Congress still claim to believe that ought to be done, it looks as though they still don't have the numbers to pass repeal legislation; not enough Democrats will join them, and they don't have a veto-proof majority in the Senate.

So, healthcare experts are warning Americans that they will simply have to figure out how to live with the widening ramifications of the Affordable Care Act, at least for a few more years (2016 may bring about a president who will side with Republicans in repealing and replacing the law that a majority of Americans still do not like, according to most surveys).

And what are some of those ramifications? Higher healthcare premiums, higher costs and longer waits to see fewer and fewer providers. And medication shortages.

Dr. Lee Hieb, author of the new book Surviving the Medical Meltdown: Your Guide to Living Through the Disaster of Obamacare, said recently in an interview with WorldNetDaily that the law's consequences are already being felt across the country.

Shortages of drugs like anesthetics

"Just judging from my experiences in Iowa, we're already seeing increasing shortages of critical drugs like Valium, which is needed to prevent seizures," she said. "We're running out of drugs to prevent tetanus infections in Arizona, and I'm even receiving reports about shortages of propofol, which is basically what is used to induce anesthesia during surgeries. And while things may be OK in the major metropolitan areas for a while, here in Iowa, the shortages and supply chain failures are already starting."

Hieb's experiences are supported by reports from around the nation, in which many hospitals have also been reporting shortages of key drugs and medicines.

As reported by WND:

According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, or ASA, in the past five years "the United States has experienced shortages of an array of vital anesthetic drugs such as propofol, succinylcholine, even epinephrine."

A 2012 survey by the ASA shows that more than 97 percent of anesthesiologists have had to endure shortages of at least one anesthetic drug.

What's more, Hieb says, such reports are getting to be more and more common.

"When you make life difficult for providers, you negatively affect the entire process down the entire line," she told WND. "The Affordable Care Act imposes further regulatory and compliance burdens on both doctors and those who create medical equipment and pharmaceuticals. We've had these kinds of burdens for a long time, but Obamacare simply makes everything worse. It takes everything that's been detracting from medical care and expands it."

"It pushed me to leave private practice"

Hieb noted that one of the law's requirements, that details of every appointment be put into an electronic medical record, is definitely wreaking havoc across the healthcare industry. This sole requirement is forcing doctors to spend more time with tablets and laptop computers than their patients, she says. Worse, the records are used by bureaucrats in federal agencies and insurance companies to ensure that providers are giving adequate care.

And if doctors want to be paid, they must follow this system, which is especially harmful to specialists, says Hieb.

"Many specialists simply leave the profession either because they can no longer afford to practice or simply out of disgust," she said.

WND further reported:

Government and insurance company bureaucrats are not familiar with the patients and have no basis to determine what kind of treatment is required. The result is that doctors have more overhead and liability even as they are prevented from providing effective treatment.

"This electronic records requirement was the final nail in the coffin for me and pushed me to leave private practice," said Hieb.

Sources:

http://www.wnd.com

http://superstore.wnd.com

http://abcnews.go.com