Posted on 08/07/2009 9:48:33 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
FRIDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Even if Congress extends health coverage to the nation's 46 million uninsured Americans, there's no guarantee that everyone will have access to care -- unless payment reforms and new models of care are adopted, some experts say.
"As more people have insurance, they will try to get appointments with more doctors, and that will lead to dramatic increases in the time it takes to get an appointment."
Depending on the coverage people have, where they live and whether they have an existing relationship with a physician, some Americans could encounter long delays in getting in to see a doctor.
In Boston, the average wait time for an appointment with a family physician is 63 days -- the highest among 15 metropolitan markets surveyed by the national physician recruitment firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates in Irving, Texas. The 15-city average was 20.3 days.
Boston's long wait times may be driven by Massachusetts' 2006 health reform legislation, which expanded health insurance coverage to nearly everyone in the state, Merritt, Hawkins noted. Many health policy experts worry that similar access problems will be experienced nationwide if Congress enacts legislation extending health insurance coverage.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“As more people have insurance, they will try to get appointments with more doctors, and that will lead to dramatic increases in the time it takes to get an appointment.”
Boy, if that isn’t the most obvious statement of the day, then I don’t know what is. So many people fail to understand the basic laws of supply and demand, I guess they have to verbalize it.
They think people are angry now...............just wait.
I dunno. HealthDay News sounds like a radical rightwing Nazi organization. /bs
The federal government is doing NOTHING to expand the nation's ability to actually provide medical care.
The only thing the federal government is doing is giving more people permission to enter the system and suck up resources.
One could (not me!) argue that this is moral, and right, and appropriate. Fine. But clearly this will result in reduced access for 80% of Americans who have already been getting health care.
They are going to ration health care. Anyone with a brain sees this.
What if the government takes away money for all nonessential goods (essential=housing, food, public school) and uses it to hire new doctors? Do you have a TV? A stereo? An IPOD? Do you have cable TV? Take vacations? All could go to health care recession free jobs
wow, surprised that yahoo news is printing this.
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