Promising model for healthcare sees enrollment plummet as ACA takes off

Just five years after direct health care practices were attracting venture capital money in Seattle, enrollees are dwindling. These practices, where patients pay a monthly fee for primary health care services, lost 35 percent of enrollees and raised their fees by 23 percent between 2012 and Dec. 1, 2014, according to a new report from the state's Office of the Insurance Commissioner. The best guess as to why this is happening? The Affordable Care Act. As more and more people are able to buy health insurance through state exchanges and Healthcare.gov and as some states have expanded Medicaid eligibility, patients who used to utilize these direct health care practices could be turning elsewhere for their treatment needs.