Unless there is a sudden and significant increase in the number of doctors in this country, simple math tells me that adding tens of millions of new patients to the health care system will most certainly result in longer waits for ANY health care service.

I think that with the new health care reform it is going to make getting an appointment with the doctor or the wait to see him longer and alot of members are going to fine other ways to be seen by different doctors or not seek out medical treatment at all

There are fewr physicians going into primary care...with more people insured there will be higher utilization. Higher utilization + fewer physicians = less access

For me? An employer insured worker in the State of NC? No, probably not.

But I realize that for a LARGE% of the 10s of Millions of Individuals who are currently Uninsured; there's no such thing as "Making an Appointment". There's just a 4 hour wait in the emergency room to be seen, prescribed and released; correct diagnosis or not. From what I've seen, it's not uncommon of those same individuals to completely stiff the hospital bill because they're unable to afford the ridiculous Price Tag placed on medical practice (ridiculous is a relative term~ try paying $800 for a two-hour visit when you make $8/hr).

Take that large Number of individuals in the ER waiting room, give them insurance and send them to your local Primary Care Provider... Primary Care gets a boost in revenues, ER gets freed up... And look whatcha get; a faster appointment where ya need it most.

Amen!

We simply don't have enough trained, licensed doctors out there to handle the influx of millions of new patients. Not looking forward to that!

We should be proactive and find a way to encourage more people to become primary care doctors. Our incentives have gone too far to encourage specialists! It would be great to have an old-fashioned doctor who relies on clinical examination more than on tests. If we do that, maybe we will have some sort of a plan to handle the huge influx of people. Currently, one has to see a doctor multiple times for the same issue because he/she won't diagnose without extensive testing. Need to get back to the generalists who are equipped and not afraid to diagnose correctly without extensive testing. Perhaps that will help in the shortage of doctors.

One option is to consider is alternative models, such as using more physician assistants and nurse practitioners rather than MDs. These practitioners could be supervised by MDs but see patients for more preventive care and less complicated medical conditions.

Also, if more MDs are going to go into the profession, something needs to be done about the cost of malpractice insurance and lawsuits that make them fearful of not performing excessive tests.

So true!

Excellent point! Now~ how do we encourage the influx of Primary Care Provider's? Lower taxes, Sign on bonuses, Help with student loans...

Cut the Malpractice Suits and the RN's would be an excellent plan. Registered Nurses already dedicate a similar portion of their life to education as MD's.

I think it is very true!

One of the first causalities of the attempt at health care reform will be people currently using Medicaid or Medicare. It is already difficult to find a GP willing to accept new Medicaid/Medicare patients and nationwide the number of practices that have gone to an "annual fee" plan has quintupled within three years. At that rate, getting an appointment will mean either 1) - paying for an "annual fee" type practice or 2) - waiting months for an appointment.

People need help. Healthcare needed reform decades ago. Only the wealthy can afford it.

Many responsed above missed the question. Every reform will have its problems, however, now more and more people can gain access to healthcare, where before they could not because of cost. I refuse to believe that America has a shortage of qualified doctors.

People who have never had healthcare will not mind waiting a few hours or days to see a doctor. They have been waiting for years to get help.

People should have access to healthcare and doctors regardless of the increase in appointment. If this will create less access to doctors then we may need to control our population like China.

The solution is that we need more qualify doctors. Not less appointments. Healthcare reform was needed decades ago.

One of the biggest problems with healthcare is the price tag. The hospitals charge astronomical prices knowing that the insurance company probably won't pay all of it, but then they can write it off if they don't. So they are trying to get as much out of the insurance company as possible which comes down to the person who pays for the coverage. Honestly, sometimes it is cheaper to do self pay for certain procedures. Most doctors offices and hospitals will give you a discount if you are a self pay patient. Also, if you have a hospital bill and you pay through the hospital on that balance, they don't charge intrest a lot of the time.

If the insurance companies would reduce the amount that they pay out for these procedures then the cost would have to go down since the doctor's offices and hospitals would be receiving less money on a regular basis then they would have to drop the price to accomodate. This is only an observation, but it seems like a less radical idea then goverment run health care. Considering the state of our economy, do we really want the goverment in charge of something else?

More difficult....and I'm worried about enforced health care visits, etc, for people who don't want it or don't really need it.

Neither (easier nor more difficult) the appointment system sucks. They have you come in 15 min early to sit out front until your scheduled appointment... then you sit in a room for another 15 min before you see the Doctor. That's not going to change.

First, it's not a reform - it's gov't control plain and simple.