Posted on 09/22/2008 2:35:09 AM PDT by Soliton
The wait to see primary care doctors in Massachusetts has grown to as long as 100 days, while the number of practices accepting new patients has dipped in the past four years, with care the scarcest in some rural areas.
Now, as the state's health insurance mandate threatens to make a chronic doctor shortage worse, the Legislature has approved an unprecedented set of financial incentives for young physicians, and other programs to attract primary care doctors. But healthcare leaders fear the new measures will take several years to ease the shortage.
Senate President Therese Murray, who championed the legislation, said that many of the roughly 439,000 people who obtained health coverage under the 2006 insurance law are struggling to find a doctor. "You can take a look at the whole state and you are not going to find a primary care physician anytime soon," she said in an inter view. "It became apparent very quickly that we needed to do something."
Access to internists and family practitioners is especially difficult in the western counties and on Cape Cod, doctors said, but Boston, too, is feeling the squeeze. Doctors and patient advocates report growing stress for patients trying to get care, and for physicians trying to squeeze them in:
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Widely reported throughout the MSM?
I don’t think so.
Yeah. Mitt should have known better.
The Globe is a member of the MSM. Let's see what the MSM says today. They will probably blame it on Mitt.
ok but Mitt is not running for prez or VP
No, but he is a Republican. That's all they need
Wait a minute.
I definitely remember one of Mass’ most prominent citizens, T boy Kennedy recently fell ill and had GREAT coverage.
Oh, that’s right he went to other states for certain specialists.
Not to worry, the common folks can just ‘shut up’ and follow the lead of the (so called) elitists so long as they realize ‘it is for the common good’.
It is hard to ‘feel sorry’ for those foolz but they keep reelecting the same old, worn out, dead beat pols year after year.
The ONLY message BO has that makes sense is ‘change’ and the first ‘change’ should be him and that butt head running mate of his being sent home....
One ‘change’ the citizenry SHOULD DEMAND, is if you are running for higher office, at least have the decency to resign the position you were elected to.
The people who are most against TERM LIMITS (other than the pols themselves) should sit down and think of the handfull of pols that REALLY P... YOU OFF for their actions/antics and remember with REAL TERM LIMITS, everyone would be gone in a set time.
Yeah, the gubmint can force you to wear a seat belt for your own protection, but limiting the incumbency of congress critters is unconstitutional.
If only the doctors weren't allowed to leave, or go out of practice, it would. And if not enough doctors live in the state, then some should be forced to move in. If they have to be kept in cells to stop them running away, then that's what Massachusetts will have to do.
And the Underground Railway will run North-to-South next time.
But on the bright side, this may also lengthen the survival of Medicare, which is going broke, because many of the elderly will die waiting for medical care. This happens in every country with socialized medicine.
This is a classic case of “be careful what you wish for” because the AARP has been pushing for government health care since its inception.
AARP will make sure that you will still need a private Medigap plan.Which shocking is offered by AARP.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
"No, but he is a Republican. That's all they need"
That's all WHO needs? The media? LOL, are you saying they will blame a REPUBLICAN for signing into law something the left has been clamoring for forever? As if by virtue of his hand touching the bill as he signed it he caused the 100 day waiting period to see a doctor? Sorry, but not even the moron media can spin this as anything but an expected (by any who have a brain) consequence of offering something for nothing. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the way to get more of something, in this case waiting times for health care is to offer the care for free. Canada and Europe as well as every other nation offering State run health care are perfect examples of this.
I get your point, but there are no good intentions in politics. In this case, the road to hell is paved with taxpayer money used for the express purpose of buying votes.
Allow these jerks to serve ONE term only in the Senate and 2 terms in the House. After that they CANNOT run until the NEXT election after being out of office for 1 term. In that way the people will be able to examine their record and decide if they want to put them back into office based on their accomplishments.
with care the scarcest in some rural areas.
Then move to the city...there fixed. /sarc
Maybe Mitt just left a little reminder of their insanity.
Short of the military, gubmint anything doesn't work. Wherever there is a mess to be found there is a near 100% chance that gubmint plays some role in screwing it up.....
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