One of the things I'm getting really sick of hearing from anti-reform folks during the health care debate is that, under any kind of reform, health care in the US would go from being immediately available to a six month wait:
Thus, the public option will crowd out other insurers and achieve monopoly pricing power. Once monopoly pricing power is achieved, then you will see a decline in both quality and supply of health services. The key is the lack of supply. At the monopoly price, the number of people willing to provide heath services will be suboptimal. This is why you have to wait six months for a CAT scan in England. Effectively, supply is rationed.
I'm not sure what kind of healthcare utopia conservatives have been living in. As a big-firm lawyer in NYC, I have (comparatively) pretty fantastic health insurance. However, I can't go see my dentist because I inadvertantly signed up for the DPO instead of the PPO plan- and can't switch until the enrollment period in November; it's a month wait to see my gastroenterologist, and about the same to see my dermatologist. My wife, who (like I did while in law school) is using the low-ranked Beech Street insurance, has had to wait months to see doctors, and several times has had to not go to a recommended doctor because of the wait. We're in New York City, which has one of the highest concentrations of doctors (and specialists) in the US- and our situation doesn't appear to be abnormal.
Forgive me for not getting too worked up when the GOP threatens that healthcare reform will result in long waits to see my doctor.
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