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Gallup Poll just in

Dr. Chuckles said:
Adam, it shows the above average trend is mass that you keep denying
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Massachusetts has been the top per-capita state in healthcare costs since 1991 (which is as far back as the data I found goes). See Health Spending per Capita - Kaiser State Health Facts

So what's your point about Mass. being an expensive healthcare cost state? As you trying to blame their position on the list above upon Romneycare?

When it comes to a reduction in healthcare insurance premium as a result of a universal mandate, surely you realize that such a reduction would come as a result of more people paying into the insurance pool, not a reduction in the actual healthcare expenditures? While you may see some of the latter over the longer term, the insurance angle is related to spreading the risks (and costs). Addressing the cost of healthcare is a whole 'nother can of worms -- an MRI retails for about $1,500 regardless of whether ordered by an emergency room or a free clinic.

As it stands now, due to the Reagan mandate (ER's must treat all urgents), everyone is getting treated (more or less), but the cost is more concentrated (per capita) than if universal insurance coverage was mandated (never mind the deadbeats and loophole exploiters, all that can be addressed legislatively/regulatorily). Universal coverage (the mandate) merely shifts some of the cost burden upon those who had been dodging it in the past... the overall cost of healthcare is relatively unchanged (oh, some pennies and nickles here and there with clinics providing more cost-effective coverage than emergency rooms).

Ultimately we will wind up with single payer regardless... the capitalist system is what is making healthcare rise at such an explosive rate. We have the best healthcare system in the world; but as our economy slips to 2nd world status, the stagnant middle class can no longer afford it. In the not too distant future we're going to have to trade the Cadillac in on a Chevy. C'est la vie.
 
Dr. Chuckles said:
actually er use has only grown in mass, and yes, above the national average.

Emergency room visits grow in Mass. - The Boston Globe

also

Health overhaul may mean longer ER waits, crowding - USATODAY.com
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due to the unfortunate propensity on the part of the mandaters to conflate coverage with access, it is worth building on this post.

Massachusetts Medical Society Releases 2011 Study of Patient Access to Health Care

...A 2011 survey about patient access to health care in the Commonwealth shows more than half of primary care practices closed to new patients, longer wait times to get appointments with primary and specialty physicians, and significant variations in physician acceptance of government and government-related insurance products..

Alice Coombs, M.D., President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said the survey results point out a critical characteristic of health care in the Commonwealth, one that physicians have known for some time.

“Massachusetts has made great strides in securing insurance coverage for its citizens,” said Dr. Coombs, “but insurance coverage doesn’t equal access to care...

Access to primary care physicians is becoming more restricted, as more than half of primary care practices – 51% of internists and 53% of family physicians – are not accepting new patients. These figures remain close to those of last year’s survey which showed 49% of internists and 54% of family physicians not accepting new patients...

Long wait times continue for the primary care physicians of internal medicine and family medicine who are accepting new patients. The average wait time for an appointment for internal medicine is 48 days, five days shorter than last year, and the average wait time for family medicine is 36 days, up 7 days. Internal medicine was the only specialty reporting a shorter wait time, yet at 48 days it has the longest wait time of any of the seven specialties surveyed.

The average wait time for pediatricians – primary care for youngsters up to age 18 – was 24 days, the same as last year. Seventy-three percent of pediatricians are accepting new patients.

All four specialties reported longer wait times: gastroenterologists, 43 days, up from 36 days; obstetricians/gynecologists, 41 days, up from 34 days; orthopedic surgeons, 26 days, up from 17 days; and cardiology, 28 days, up from 26 days...

The gap between primary care physicians accepting Medicare and MassHealth is striking. While most internists (85%) and family physicians (87%) accept Medicare, significantly fewer of both (53% of internists) and (62% of family physicians) accept MassHealth...​


IOW congratulations! You are paying through the nose for insurance! That plus $0.50 will get you a cup of coffee in the waiting room, where you will be for about a month! Hope it wasn't important! :)
 
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mpg said:
The pickins were slim this year. To whom are you referring?
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Gary Johnson would have been an excellent choice. I am voting for him this year, since he was picked to head the Libertarian ticket.
 
cpwill said:
IOW congratulations! You are paying through the nose for insurance! That plus $0.50 will get you a cup of coffee in the waiting room, where you will be for about a month! Hope it wasn't important! :)
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So just over half the primary care practices are closed to new patients ... meaning that about half of them are still open to new patients. And you may have to wait an extra week or two for your non-emergency appointment.... Cry me a river.

In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of people now have access to primary care and specialists who didn't have access before.
 
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