What happens when thirty-two million people suddenly obtain health insurance and there isn’t enough doctors or emergency rooms to handle the influx? You guessed it, longer waiting times and rationing of services.
Massachusetts thought that their hospital emergency rooms would clear out over time when everyone in that state were enrolled in their mandated health insurance plan. The opposite happened. There are not enough physicians in Massachusetts so many folks simply run to the emergency room to receive health care. Many doctors and health insurance companies have left the state for financial reasons, the end result being long lines.
It is a vicious cycle, and one the American people in general haven’t even experienced yet. Health insurance in hand, there will be long waits to see a physician. The shortage of doctors is not something the country can address overnight. Even if the country acted immediately by paying for medical schooling in return for four years of service as a primary care physician, the shortage would still last for several years after ObamaCare is fully enacted. We must still consider the fact that many promising students will choose not to go into medicine, realizing a single payer national health care system is in the works. With the economy set to rebound in about six years, the possibility of large scale building of hospitals and emergency rooms is not likely. Many may ask where are these 32 million people getting health care now, without a medical insurance policy. The answer may be found in your local emergency room. https://higginscompanies.com/dental/the-exciting-side-of-dental-insurance/
The only way to avoid the train wreck that we face is to not fund the new health insurance law, and wait until 2012 for a Republican president to repeal this very costly mistake.
Michael Higgins
602.405.8769
An Arizona health insurance broker.