More Lessons from Massachusetts
As one news report put it, "Boston is experiencing the longest average doctor appointment wait times overall of the 15 metro markets examined in the survey: 70 days to see an obstetrician/gynecologist, 63 days to see a family physician, 54 days to see a dermatologist, 40 days to see an orthopedic surgeon, and 21 days to see a cardiologist."
A Merritt Hawkins study puts it even more starkly. Totaling up the average wait time for all five specialties, the survey finds that cumulative average wait time is 248 days in Boston – almost twice as much as the next highest area (Philadelphia at 135 days) and over twice as much as the third highest, Los Angeles at 121 days.
We are shocked to see waiting times measured in days, but in Canada, the waiting times are months. Look at the Fraser Institute’s latest waiting time survey (2008): 36.7 weeks for orthopaedic, 16.1 weeks for gynecologic, 12.5 weeks for internist, 7.3 weeks for cardiovascular, etc. And these are not for the operations: These waiting times are from the date your primary-care doc refers you until your first consultation with the specialist.
Even Boston’s appalling results in the Merritt Hawkins survey look like gold, compared to the results of the Canadian government monopoly!
Plus, the so-called Health Connector with Blue Cross of MA and 4 other local yokals don’t have out of state network discounts. This isn’t world wide coverage like America’s oldest insurance company who can’t break into the commonwealth’s health insurance monopoly.
Thank you Mitt Romney. These socialists are in both political parties.
Just give them time, John. We will catch up with Canada eventually.
[…] This is precisely what is happening in Massachusetts right now. As previously reported here, waiting times to see doctors in Boston are more than twice as long as any other US city. Casual observation suggests that access […]