It takes three weeks longer to see a medical specialist in Boston than in any other metropolitan area in the country, according to a study by Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, a physician recruiting and consulting company based in Texas.
More than 95 percent of the Bay State’s population is insured, as state law requires residents to get coverage and prove they have it. The Merritt, Hawkins researchers note health insurance “doesn’t guarantee a quick visit to the doctor.”
The average wait time for an appointment with a doctor in many specialty areas is 50 days, according to the study, with the stateÂ’s expansion of subsidized health insurance serving as the main catalyst driving up demand for care.
Wait Times Signal Problem with Massachusetts ?Model? - by Whitney Stewart - Health Care News
1. People in Massachusetts wait a long time to see a doctor. People in Georgia don't.
2. People in Massachusetts also pay a lot for health insurance. People in Georgia don't.
3. Massachusetts in 2006 passed reforms giving almost everybody health insurance. Georgia didn't.
4. Those reforms are the reason people in Massachusetts pay so much for their health insurance and wait so long to see the doctor.
5. President Obama wants to pass national reforms that resemble the Massachusetts state reforms.
6. If President Obama gets his way, all Americans will end up like those cursed people in Massachusetts–paying more for health insurance, waiting longer for care
Health Care.
Advocates promised that the Massachusetts plan would make health insurance more affordable, but according to a Cato study, insurance premiums have been increasing at nearly double the national average: 7.4 percent in 2007, 8 percent to 12 percent in 2008, and an expected 9 percent increase this year. Health insurance in Massachusetts costs an average of $16,897 for a family of four, compared to a national average of $12,700.
The Massachusetts plan incorporates a system of middle-class subsidies called Commonwealth Care to help pay for insurance for families with incomes up to 300 percent of poverty level ($66,150 for a family of four) and also expanded eligibility for Medicaid.
The costs to the taxpayers are rising, too, and one tax increase has not satisfied the appetite of the hungry plan. The prospect of huge deficits has elicited discussion of cuts in reimbursements to providers and the imposition of a "global budget," which is a euphemism for rationing.
Massachusetts Health Care: A Model Not to Copy