Policy

Doctors Turn to Cash Business To Escape Red Tape

Deal with patients on-on-one, and screw Obamacare

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Obamacare's most intrusive changes to the healthcare marketplace — including the individual mandate whereby Americans must secure health insurance or pay a fine and its massive expansion of Medicaid — are less than a year from taking effect.

Many doctors have decided that they're not interested in seeing how those changes play out in their own practices. Nearly two-thirds of doctors say that they or their colleagues will retire earlier than planned over the next few years, according to a survey conducted by consulting firm Deloitte.

Others are considering a departure from the current system of third-party payment. Instead, they're exploring direct payment, with patients paying for care on their own.