Please read what I am saying.
Risks are substantially higher in MA because of the state mandated testing limitations placed on doctors treating people covered by state funded plans.
So here is the bases of the mess. State reimbursements rates to doctors and hospitals have dropped since 2006.. State reimbursements have been criminally slow to the point of driving hospitals and doctors out of business.
Those same doctors that are getting paid less are paying higher malpractice rates because the threat of suits is higher because state insured patients are not getting the testing they feel they are entitled to because of state mandated limitations on testing.
Another huge issue that was not resolved we the excessive burden on emergency rooms.
Low income people covered by state funded plans have long felt entitled to walk into ERs demanding routine care as vaccinations, annual physicals and the like.
One of the main goals of the reform was to get uninsured and state insured people out of the ERs and into primary care offices.
Instead they have expanded the number of people who now show up in the ER waving their state insurance card demanding to see THEIR doctor because they have a sore throat.
One hospitals attempt at setting up a nearby walk in clinic to take such patients was met with howls of racism and other such nonsense when it was reported they were shuttling routine care patients from the ER down to the clinic. They were forced to abandon the program.
When it comes to Massachusetts health care and the impact of the 2006 health care reform, I know what I am talking about because I live with it. Maine and California are another story.
