Study: Obamacare Making Mental Healthcare Harder to Get in DC

The Affordable Care Act, which promises easier access to mental healthcare, is actually having the opposite effect in the nation's capital, according to a study by the American Psychiatric Association.

The study looked at the top three health insurers in the Washington, D.C., Health Insurance Exchange Network and found that only 14 percent of psychiatrists listed were able to see new patients. The other 86 percent were either unreachable or could not see new patients, the APA reported.

Only 23 percent of the phone numbers in the listings worked, and 49 percent of the listings included the doctors' current phone numbers.

The typical wait time was three weeks for a new patient to see a doctor.

"This study shows us that many people are not able to access needed care and people are paying for mental healthcare they cannot access," APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin said.

The networks are shrinking partly because psychiatrists are dropping out of the networks because they say the Affordable Care Act is causing them an unreasonable administrative burden and they are experiencing low payment rates, Levin said.

Additionally, plans are "narrowing their networks" while they boost the names of providers in their networks in hopes of luring new customers to their plans, he added.

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