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Doctor shortage slows Massachusetts health reform

July 9, 2007 — 8:01pm ET
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Making sure uninsured citizens get health coverage sounds good--but it won't work if physicians aren't on board. And it looks like that's a real hurdle for Commonwealth Care, the new insurance-for-all plan offered by the state of Massachusetts.

Primary care physicians aren't thrilled with the requirements for participating in Commonwealth Care products, which include making sure a patient has a first appointment within 45 days and is seen within 48 hours for urgent-care issues.  Not only that, physicians are complaining about Commonwealth care reimbursement levels, which are comparable to rates paid by state Medicaid program Mass Health. So with few primary care physicians participating, many Commonwealth Care patients are waiting weeks or even months to find practices who will see them--even to refer them to specialists.

To get more information on the shortage:
- read this Cape Cod Times piece

Related article:
Shortage of primary care docs in Massachusetts.  Report

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Comments

By Scott | Posted 1:40pm | July 10, 2007

All the MA docs have gone to Texas.

By Bubba-a 36 year veteran of healthcare administration | Posted 11:41am | July 12, 2007

MA healthcare reform is failing because the people in the state do not want to be in the state mandated program. Talk radio & TV host Glenn Beck pointed this out in his radio show this week. The alleged healthcare reform being touted by Democratic pols is nothing more than socialism. Again Beck pointed this out in his broadcast, further he made the point that socialism has failed to deliver, citing the former Soviet Union as an example. Healthcare reform is code for universal government controlled healthcare which in every country that it exists, fails to deliver. The Canadians flock to the US because they can not get the healthcare services they need in the government run system. Again, citing Beck's broadcast he points out that with our declining US birthrate there will in the not to distant future be not enough workers to fund two failed socialist schemes in America; Medicare and Social Security.

It is time for the American people to wake up and realize that our country will go bankrupt if we do not put a stop to Medicare and Social Security.

By Vincent L. Diaz | Posted 3:13pm | April 7, 2008

Finally,We're beginning to see some rational opinions concerning the inevitable consequences of failed
socialist schemes like National Health coverage.

Hopefully, the disaster that is Social Security, will yield to the obvious solution: at least partial if not total privatization.

Both Medicare and Social Security
will eventually bankrupt this country.

Many hair brained schemes will be tried: raising taxes, cutting benefits to start. But you can not argue with demographics.

It is not an exaggeration to say that if we do not act soon we will suffer a catastrophic financial collapse of the entire country.

By Jack Kilcullen, MD JD MPH | Posted 4:39pm | June 8, 2008

While cost containment remains a challenge, Massachusetts has cut its uninsured rate in half. I work in the intensive care unit and I'm sick of treating life-threatening complications that people could have prevented had they health insurance coverage the way Glenn Beck has. I guess he'd rather see insurance companies enjoy their profits.

By Anonymous | Posted 6:27pm | May 1, 2009

No one is denied healthcare in the usa. We can't legislate responsibility. So your icus will be the same and ers will still be overwhelmed

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