Long Waits for the Doctor 0
Not just in Canada. (In fact, hardly in Canada except for certain elective or non-emergency surgery.)
“It’s a big victory for California consumers. These are groundbreaking consumer protections for them to get the care they need when they need it,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California.
Under the new rules, HMO physicians must see a patient who requests an appointment within 10 days. Specialists have 15 days. Urgent-care patients must be seen within 48 hours.
(snip)
Today, the average wait to see a general practitioner for a physical is 20 days in some of the state’s large cities, according to a report last year by the market research firm Merritt Hawkins and Associates. In Los Angeles, the usual wait was 59 days.
