RSS Feed
When Having Insurance Isn't Enough
47 million uninsured. 16 million underinsured. Universal health insurance coverage has been a major focus of our nation's health-care reform debate. But for many Americans, acquiring health insurance is just one hurdle. A greater hurdle is, once insured, being able to receive timely care.
Recently, an otherwise-healthy, thirty-something friend of mine was feeling under-the-weather. Eager to see a physician, she quickly obtained health insurance (cost had prohibited previous attempts), received a list of "in-network" providers and called each one only to find that no one was accepting new patients. Exasperated, she called me searching for answers. I had none.
I had become used to the idea that wait-times to see specialists or surgeons were especially long. But for primary care? Primary care is our bread-and-butter, our first line of defense against disease. What good is insurance if you can not see a physician for routine care?
Researchers have argued whether a mandate on physician workforce supply or a complete health system redesign would adequately address this issue. Suffice it to say, current legislative efforts should focus on strategies to adequately meet the health-care needs of those who presently have insurance coverage and those who will be added under the proposed health reform plan. A health-care system that promotes a stronger, more robust health-care provider workforce, offers workforce incentives to help offset imbalances from increased patient loads--including better reimbursement rates--and increases accessibility of health-care services will be crucial if we want to see a healthier citizenry.
As for my friend, she finally found a physician accepting new patients--but has to wait three months before she can be seen. Hopefully, with the dedicated efforts of Congress, such waiting periods will be a thing of the past.
By
Chisara N. Asomugha
|
June 10, 2009; 11:07 AM ET
| Category:
Health Care Reform
,
Insurance
,
Primary Care
Share This: 
Technorati
| Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook
Previous: Focus on the Individual |
Next: Think Info-tainment.
Posted by: STANTONCAROL | June 14, 2009 8:26 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Very informative!
Posted by: prophetessjnc | June 10, 2009 3:39 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Doctor, if this lady was "feeling under the weather", why didn't she just go to the doctor and pay her instead of wasting time with health insurance?
The only dedicated effort required by Congress to make waiting lists a thing of the past is to get the government out of health care. More government leads to longer waits, as the Canadian experience demonstrates.
Posted by: marincanuck | June 10, 2009 3:36 PM
Report Offensive Comment
The comments to this entry are closed.
do not side with big business and the insurance companies and pers drug companies.....side with the AMERICAN PEOPLE AND BARACK OBAMA .........THAT IS THE REASON HE WAS ELECTED...WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTHCARE IN OUR COUNTRY.