I just don’t think that there are enough doctors anymore. I work in an ER and when the patients leave I know it could take months for them to see a specialist, not because they are waiting for approval from insurance but because the doctors are responsible for too many patients! It seems to me that around here the population demands more than what is available.

Additionally, it seems that insurance companies and not doctors are directing care. Why would anyone want to be a physician LICENSED to practice medicine within HMO administrative constraints? It is the physician who will lose his license if he can not properly diagnose and treat (not the HMO), and she/he should not have to worry about his patients insurance not approving a test that is ordered!

Also OB/GYNS are getting scarce, didn’t 9% of ob/gyn residency spots across the US go empty last year? Why would someone want to pay the high OB malpractice insurance premiums?

…. since many people don’t have insurance or a doctor they are using the ED for things like sore throats and colds , tying up our ED beds and increasing wait times for true emergencies..

…. And more >> Our ED is forced to go on Bypass or Total Care Divert status (can no longer accept ambulances) because all the beds are filled in the hospital. We have had many admitted IN-PATIENTS in the ER overnight and some for two days. This happens all over the state, especially in the winter. Even some admitted IN-Patients last year were in hallways of our ED (Privacy?). IS this quality??? I think NOT!

Even more… NJ Hospitals have been slighted in the Medicare payment system (WE HAVE MORE MEDICARE PATIENTS THAN OTHER STATES AND OUR HOSPITALS GET LESS MONEY THAN THOSE IN STATES WITH LESS MEDICARE POPULATION)

I could go on but I don’t have the time..