No matter what your political views on the Affordable Care Act, it is at least agreeable that the new law is changing the nature and structure of healthcare in this country – who is eligible (everyone), how it gets paid for, how insurance companies and hospitals negotiate rates, and so on.If you’re a doctor reading this article, then you know first-hand how the new law has changed the way you do business, and you might even be anticipating more changes in the future.
Do one or all three of the situations below apply to you?
- Quality metrics put in place under the Affordable Care Act are taking up an increasing share of your time, detracting from the amount of time you can spend seeing patients (making more revenue) and attending to your personal matters (like your finances)1
- Health insurance plans are increasingly taking the high-deductible route, causing you to see an increase in collectibles, receivables, and writing-off of bad debts—which also means spending more time collecting payments from deductibles
- With record mergers amongst insurance companies (Anthem buys rival Cigna for $54 billion, and Aetna buys Humana for $37 billion),2 it is giving insurers increased leverage in negotiating rates with hospitals and perhaps your practice, maybe making it more difficult to get preferred rates for your service3
The common theme that runs through each bullet point is that doctors appear to be losing valuable time and in some cases, revenue. At face value, having less time and less money is difficult enough. But what about the less obvious—but no less impactful—issue of your retirement? Does losing time and revenue also mean losing ground on building your retirement nest egg?
Placing a Higher Value on Retirement Planning
If you are indeed feeling a squeeze from regulatory changes and the evolving structure of healthcare, then it could make sense to consult a financial advisor for help. Some doctors might think that this means just ‘adding one more thing to the to-do list,’ which is probably already long enough. But the reality is that an experienced financial advisor should actually save you time in getting your finances together and setting a course for retirement. It should give you one less thing to worry about, while also helping to improve efficiencies in your retirement plan, such as how you save and invest.
One of our Wealth Managers would be happy to assist you or answer questions you may have about creating an investment and retirement plan. Please feel welcome to give us a call at 1-800-541-7774, or if you prefer to start the conversation here.
Sources:
1. ThinkAdvisor
2. LA Times
