GAO found that Medicare beneficiaries experienced few problems accessing physician services during its period of study. Very small percentages of Medicare beneficiaries–less than 3 percent–reported major difficulties accessing physician services in 2007 and 2008. The proportion of beneficiaries who received physician services and the number of services per beneficiary served increased nationwide from April 2000 to April 2008. Indicators of physician willingness to serve Medicare beneficiaries and to accept Medicare fees as payments in full also rose from 2000 to 2008.
Here’s the entire report for your reading pleasure.
So, that’s how many right-wing healthcare myths debunked? Is anyone counting?
• There are no death panels (at least, not the government kind.)
• Canadians are not lining up at the U.S. border to obtain healthcare. In fact, it’s the other way around: tens of thousands of Americans flee the U.S. each year for affordable surgical procedures in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and India.
• British citizens do not, in fact, disparage their National Health Service, but if you lie about who you are and selectively edit some interview tapes it might look like they do.
• The USA does not, in fact, have the best healthcare in the world; indeed, we suck.
• America’s health insurance companies do, actually, need the government telling them what to do, since they’ve been unable to stop practices like pre-existing conditions on their own.
I’m sure there are more.
