Sunday, October 6, 2024

Americans Facing Health Care ‘shrinkflation’ with Higher Costs and Longer Wait Times; Longer Waits and Shorter Appointments: How Health 'shrinkflation' is Changing YOUR Hospital Visits

Americans facing health care ‘shrinkflation’ with higher costs and longer wait times:
An Axios report on Tuesday found Americans are struggling with health care “shrinkflation,” experiencing longer wait times and shorter doctor visits despite paying more for health coverage.
“The US spends more on health care than almost anywhere else. But increasingly patients are getting less in return, and enduring long waits to get not as much face-time with their clinician,” the report read.
It continued, “Shrinkflation is hitting a sector that accounts for almost one-fifth of the economy, eroding the doctor-patient relationship and leaving many turning to urgent care clinics or telehealth services.”
The report cited an Axios/Ipsos survey taken in August which found nearly one out of five people reported waiting more than two months to see a physician.
An additional survey from electronic health records company Tebra found 43% of patients have been experiencing longer wait times since the pandemic.
Hospitals such as NYC Health and Hospitals have also been instructing primary care doctors to shorten appointment times to 20 minutes to accommodate more patients.
At NYC Health and Hospitals, the average wait for the “third next available” primary care appointment nearly doubled from 12 days to 22 days. --->READ MORE HERE
Longer waits and shorter appointments: How health 'shrinkflation' is changing YOUR hospital visits:
Millions of Americans are left waiting months to get crucial care because of 'healthcare shrinkflation,' according to new reports.
This economic phenomenon - when the size of a product has shrunk while prices stay the same or rise - has caused fewer and fewer doctors appointments to be available while the number of patients rises, making wait times double in parts of the nation to as long as 22 days.
Healthcare is just the latest industry to be hit with inflation - Americans are dealing with prices rising from the grocery store to the gas pump.
Health shrinkflation can be caused by a combination factors, but top contributors include a mass exodus of doctors since the pandemic, an increase in the number of people seeking care and changes in national insurance policies, which cover fewer health services.
Dr Robert Pearl, a Stanford University professor and former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, told Axios: 'You're paying actually more for your health coverage, but you're not getting more. You're actually getting less'.
The average wait time for doctor appointments in 2022 in 15 cities across the US was 26 days - up from 24 days in 2017, according to a report from AMN Healthcare and Merritt Hawkins.
In certain cities, like New York, the average wait time for a primary care appointment doubled in the past year - going from 11 days in 2023 to 22 days in 2024.
A 2024 Axios survey found one in five Americans said they had to wait more than two months to see a primary care physician.
And 43 percent of patients say they've had to wait longer to see a doctor since the pandemic.
One of the largest contributors to this is the fact that in most areas, more patients than ever are seeking routine healthcare appointments since the COVID-19 pandemic. --->READ MORE HERE
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