President Trump’s executive orders changing Obamacare rules could end up boosting a healthcare plan designed and operated by a local physician. At Empower 3 Center for Health in Altoona, Dr. Zane Gates offers primary and specialty care, including prescriptions and medical testing, for $159 a month. Patients also receive outpatient mental health care, physical therapy, and durable medical equipment.
A separate catastrophic plan for $100 to $200 a month covers hospital stays, surgery, and emergency room visits. The plan isn’t comprehensive enough to meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, but the president’s orders would change that.
Dr Gates says, “The one good thing that’ll come out of this is they’ll be allowed to sell catastrophic plans. People will be able to buy as much or as little insurance as they want.”
He believes that regardless of the president’s actions, premiums and deductibles would rise significantly. Dr Gates says the health insurance system is set up to fail because not enough healthy people will buy coverage to subsidize the larger number of sick patients who use it.
