In an announcement tomorrow awaited California Legislature will need physicians to treat a patient with an HMO plan within 10 days of appointment requests, while specialists will have to see patients within 15 days. Emergency care will be provided to HMO insured within 48 hours.
The Los Angeles patients have been confronted with waiting 59 days average time for a routine physical. In San Diego, patients with HMO plans were waiting an average of 24 days, according to a survey by Merritt Hawkins & Associates.
Experts blame these long waiting periods on the number of insured Medicaid in California cities. Doctors receive low reimbursement rates for Medicaid, which makes a limited income in cities.
In addition to reducing wait times, phone calls will be returned within 30 minutes and healthcare providers must be available 24 hours a day.
This bill puts a huge amount of pressure on health care providers with the hope that these changes will alleviate the number of visits to emergency rooms each year performed.
Interestingly, health reform may still make it difficult for doctors to comply with these requirements. The reform may lead more doctors outside major cities in California, which would make the existing problem worse.
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