@ubiquitin
I gave an example of a wait for a specialist by my MIL…she’s in her late 80s, on Medicare…that single payer system
The Gerontologists only serve senior citizens, so they all are single payer (Medicare) patients. Again in a 50 mile in-state radius, the earliest appointment available was 4 months out.
This is a non-emergency room type visit. The delay is devastating. Without the evaluation, the secondary insurers will not authorize coverage by in-home health aides, durable medical equipment (walker, wheel chair, commode, etc). She can’t gain admittance to certain care facilities or day programs. Event the Town Senior Citizen transportation won’t serve her without the evaluation. Unfortunately, we watch her slide downhill every day. We have offered to pay for a number of these services/programs, but without the gerontologists evaluation there is no entry. (In terms of durable medical equipment, she is currently using items that belonged to my late mother A”H. They sat in our garage, because Goodwill won’t accept used DME.