For the decade-ish that I’ve been reporting on health care, insurance coverage has dominated conversations about who has access to care. But in the post-pandemic era, it’s become clear that having insurance is only the first step toward receiving quality care.
Why it matters: Where Americans live, their health status and a range of socioeconomic factors increasingly determine their experience with the health care system, and in many cases that experience appears to be getting worse.
- Affordability, while critical, isn’t synonymous with access. Long wait times for doctor appointments, crowded emergency departments, complicated insurance requirements and a dearth of local providers are all making things tougher on patients.
- For many people, whether they can get the care they need when they need it seems to come down to the luck of the draw.
State of play: Provider shortages and a post-pandemic surge in demand for care have played a large role in today’s squeeze.
- That’s being felt all along […]
One factor often not discussed in the so called “shortage” is the regulatory and immigration structure here in the States. Because of the high profits to be earned here, there are thousands, literally thousands of physicians, nurses, and other professionals who would be delighted to practice here, but they are prevented from doing so due to the structural barriers in place. That’s because, for the powers that be, no treatment is better than some treatment. Although loosening the regulations would be a disaster for other areas of the world, they would be a boon to Americans.