For Many New Medicaid Enrollees, Care Is Hard to Find, Report Says

[Professor Peabody]

For Many New Medicaid Enrollees, Care Is Hard to Find, Report Says

By ROBERT PEARSEPT. 27, 2014

WASHINGTON — Enrollment in Medicaid is surging as a result of the Affordable Care Act, but the Obama administration and state officials have done little to ensure that new beneficiaries have access to doctors after they get their Medicaid cards, federal investigators say in a new report.

The report, to be issued this week by the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, says state standards for access to care vary widely and are rarely enforced. As a result, it says, Medicaid patients often find that they must wait for months or travel long distances to see a doctor.

Health plans often provide transportation to help Medicaid patients get to doctor’s appointments

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/28/us/for-many-new-medicaid-enrollees-care-is-hard-to-find-report-says.html?_r=0

Massachusetts all over again just like we said. I love it when the Democrats brag about how they signed up less than 16% of the uninsured.....really? What good is it to HAVE Medicaid of Obama Care insurance if you have to drive 100 miles each way to find a doctor or facilities just to use it?

"Health plans often provide transportation to help Medicaid patients get to doctor’s appointments"

Taxpayers get to pay the freight for the care and ride too. The Democrats rushed into a very bad plan with Obama Care and to make matters worse they excluded the Republicans from the planning guaranteeing the plan to fail just like it is. Dave Barry said it best.

"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy. - Dave Barry

[Peter1469]

It hasn't really worked out as advertised.

[Matty]

No it hasn't. And, many many many doctors refuse to take medicaid patients and they won't take medicare either unles the medicare patient has a supplemental policy! The reimbursable rate is just to low. The democrats have basically destroyed what was once excellent health care in the US.

[Peter1469]

No it hasn't. And, many many many doctors refuse to take medicaid patients and they won't take medicare either unles the medicare patient has a supplemental policy! The reimbursable rate is just to low. The democrats have basically destroyed what was once excellent health care in the US.

Probably on purpose to get a single payer system.

[Venus]

Care is hard to find but so is out of pocket expenses. People can't afford their deductible. What go is health insurance if you can't see your doctor because you can't afford the out of pocket expenses.

[nic34]

It will be years before economists, doctors, and health researchers have good measures of the impact of Obamacare on the country’s financial and physical health. But two state studies are at least suggestive of the effect the Affordable Care Act might have.

One is the famed Oregon Health Insurance Experiment (http://www.nber.org/oregon/). In the study, some poor, uninsured adults won access to Oregon’s Medicaid program; many others did not. In follow-up examinations and surveys, there was little evidence that insurance made anybody healthier in the short term, at least when it came to a few common conditions like hypertension and diabetes. But it had a powerful effect on rates of depression and measures of financial stability.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/obamacare-works-and-america-will-always-hate-it.html

[Matty]

Probably on purpose to get a single payer system.
Single payer system is not feasible. 50% of Americans pay no Federal taxes.

[Peter1469]

Single payer system is not feasible. 50% of Americans pay no Federal taxes.

Right. America is too big with too many people to make a one size fits all solution work. Canada makes it work because they have a fraction of the people and most everyone pays something into the system. (Not to say that Canada's system is one size fits all).

[Professor Peabody]

Care is hard to find but so is out of pocket expenses. People can't afford their deductible. What go is health insurance if you can't see your doctor because you can't afford the out of pocket expenses.

It nails the middle class the worst, they pay the highest out of pocket costs.

[Matty]

It nails the middle class the worst, they pay the highest out of pocket costs.
Basically the middle class is self insured or UN insured. Good work democrats!

[Matty]

Right. America is too big with too many people to make a one size fits all solution work. Canada makes it work because they have a fraction of the people and most everyone pays something into the system. (Not to say that Canada's system is one size fits all).


Interestingly I followed Adelaides link to the session in parliament and one politician stood and begged the parliament to address the fact that many Canadians had to leave the country to seek care for MS.

[Professor Peabody]

It will be years before economists, doctors, and health researchers have good measures of the impact of Obamacare on the country’s financial and physical health. But two state studies are at least suggestive of the effect the Affordable Care Act might have.

One is the famed Oregon Health Insurance Experiment (http://www.nber.org/oregon/). In the study, some poor, uninsured adults won access to Oregon’s Medicaid program; many others did not. In follow-up examinations and surveys, there was little evidence that insurance made anybody healthier in the short term, at least when it came to a few common conditions like hypertension and diabetes. But it had a powerful effect on rates of depression and measures of financial stability.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/obamacare-works-and-america-will-always-hate-it.html


Massachusetts health program, model for Obama’s reform, strains state budget

By Peter Suderman | Published: 8:00 PM 01/10/2010 | Updated: 1:20 AM 01/11/2010

In 2006, the state of Massachusetts passed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s health-care system. The system, which influenced the Obama administration’s plans for national reform, has since faced unexpected and unchecked growth in costs, both to the government and individuals, forcing the government to cut benefits and raise taxes. Now analysts say that without significant policy changes, the program’s long-term viability is in doubt.

State officials have successfully increased health insurance coverage in the state: With only 2.6 percent of the population now lacking health insurance, its insurance rate is the highest in the nation. But high coverage levels have been achieved at a substantial price, and one that is expected to increase over time.

For the state’s policymakers, rapidly rising health-care costs are the central problem with the plan. Since 2006, the cost of the state’s insurance program has increased by 42 percent, or almost $600 million. According to an analysis by the Rand Corporation, “in the absence of policy change, health care spending in Massachusetts is projected to nearly double to $123 billion in 2020, increasing 8 percent faster than the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).”

http://dailycaller.com/2010/01/10/massachusetts-health-program-a-model-for-obamas-national-reform-strains-state-budget/

Massachusetts program is the model for Obama Care, the same guy designed it.


In Massachusetts, long waits for doctor visits

By Ros Krasny

BOSTON | Mon May 9, 2011 1:23pm EDT

(Reuters) - Almost everyone in Massachusetts has health insurance under a state mandate, but many doctors do not accept the subsidized insurance programs available to low-income residents, a new study shows.

Residents in some areas also face long waits in getting doctors' appointments, or find that overstretched primary care practices are not taking on new patients.

"Insurance coverage doesn't equal access to care," said Dr. Alice Coombs, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) and an emergency room physician,

Massachusetts' healthcare program was introduced five years ago by then-governor Mitt Romney, a Republican now expected to run for president in 2012 after falling short in 2008.

The state's program is often regarded as a model for President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare reforms. Conservatives have criticized Romney for his support of the state's plan, although he has said it was designed for Massachusetts and would not work as a national plan.

Many primary care doctors do not accept MassHealth, the state's version of Medicaid, and even less accept Commonwealth Care and Commonwealth Choice, programs for low- and moderate-income residents.

More than half of primary care practices are not taking new patients, especially patients for whose treatment they will be paid at a much lower level than for those carrying private health insurance.

Long wait times are common - almost seven weeks, on average, for a non-emergency appointment for internal medicine. The average wait time for pediatricians, primary care for children, was 24 days, the MMS study showed.

New patient wait times in Massachusetts jumped between 2006 and 2007 after the initial implementation of the state health care reform law, and have remained high. As a result, the rate of emergency room visits to receive care has also stayed high.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/09/us-massachusetts-long-waits-idUSTRE7484NI20110509

24 days or more to see your kids primary care doctor! If you called TODAY your response would be...."We have an opening on Oct 24th at 11:00 AM will that be OK?"

[PolWatch]

When I first consulted a new internist I had to wait 6 weeks for an appointment...before Obamacare & with private insurance. Consulting a doctor for the first time means the appointment usually takes longer and good doctors are worth waiting for. I know a friend of mine had to schedule a routine mammogram 3 months in the future (again, pre-obamacare & private pay).

[Professor Peabody]

When I first consulted a new internist I had to wait 6 weeks for an appointment...before Obamacare & with private insurance. Consulting a doctor for the first time means the appointment usually takes longer and good doctors are worth waiting for. I know a friend of mine had to schedule a routine mammogram 3 months in the future (again, pre-obamacare & private pay).


Obamacare Causes Longer Physician Wait Times

Patients are waiting an average of 18 days to schedule an appointment for a doctor, according to a study of appointments for commonly used specialty physicians in 15 major U.S. cities. The survey by physician staffing and consulting firm Merritt Hawkins comes as a doctor shortage looms as more patients seek medical care under the Affordable Care Act. The health law is bringing millions more Americans health benefits and therefore the ability to pay for a visit to the doctor’s office.
The longest wait to see a doctor was in Boston where the average wait was 45.5 days to schedule an appointment with a family physician, dermatologist, cardiologist, orthopedic surgeon or obstetrician/gynecologist. The survey came from a sampling late last year of nearly 1,400 medical offices across the country.

“In the next two to three years, can we keep a bad situation from getting worse?” asked Travis Singleton, senior vice president at Merritt Hawkins, a subsidiary of AMN Healthcare (AMN). ”Everything will tell you it’s going to get worse and not better.”

http://www.ncnp.org/journal-of-medicine/1357-obamacare-start-causes-longer-physician-wait-times.html



18 days and climbing.