Massachusetts

The Boston Globe reports that a recent Massachusetts law requiring state residents to carry health insurance has had the unintended result of highlighting a shortage of physicians. According to data from the Massachusetts Medical Society, in 2006, 53 percent of patients making an appointment with a primary-care physician were able to see a physician within a week of initiating contact, but in 2007, only 42 percent were able to do so. A member of an advocacy group that helped to draft the new law states that healthcare reform should not have been attempted without first addressing workforce shortages.
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