National Health Preview

I have been all in favor of several features of the new ObamaCare bill at one time; but now I am beginning to have second thoughts. The state of Massachusetts has a law called CommonwealthCare, which is an almost exact copy of the new ObamaCare bill. We can learn a lot about how ObamaCare will work by looking at CommonwealthCare.

A survey of medical care delivery in Massachusetts was recently done by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Following are some of the results of the survey:
Fewer than half of the state’s primary care practices are accepting new patients, down from 70% in 2007 before the Massachusetts law came into being. The average wait time for a check-up with an internist is 48 days. It takes 43 days to secure and appointment with a gastroenterologist for chronic heartburn, up from 36 last year. It now requires 41 days to secure an appointment with an OB/GYN, up from 34 last year.

Health insurance premiums in Massachusetts are among the highest in the nation.

Emergency room visits jumped 9% between 2004 and 2008, due, probably, to lack of access to primary care providers.

Medical care providers are refusing to accept CommonwealthCare payments for treating patients. Only 43% of internists and 56% of family physicians accept CommonwealthCare in payment for their services. The respective figures for acceptance of price-controlled Medicaid are 53% and 62%.

ObamaCare looked good at first to many people; but I think we should all take a hard second look. This thing will begin to effect the health care delivery system in the whole nation exactly as it has affected Massachusetts.