2 major health insurers overstated number of doctors available via Obamacare

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Bolstering a chief complaint about Obamacare coverage, California regulators said two major health insurers violated state law by overstating the number of doctors available to patients..

More than 25% of physicians listed by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California weren't taking Covered California patients or were no longer at the location listed by the companies, according to state reports released Tuesday.

In some cases, these errors led to big unforeseen medical bills when patients unwittingly ventured to out-of-network doctors for medical tests or a surgery.

The results of the five-month investigation come at a critical juncture as the second year of health law enrollment gets underway and more than 1.2 million Californians are shopping in the state's insurance exchange.

“We found the provider directories made available to the public had significant errors. When you have a quarter or more of physicians that aren't available, that is significant.”
- Shelley Rouillard, director of the California Department of Managed Health Care

"We found the provider directories made available to the public had significant errors," said Shelley Rouillard, director of the California Department of Managed Health Care. "When you have a quarter or more of physicians that aren't available, that is significant."

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