You know what I find strange about arguments like "you'll have to wait longer" to see a doctor...

[Gravitycollapse]

Is that they are taken from the position of a for-profit system where the only person an individual ultimately cares about is himself.

Stop thinking like that. Stop trying to argue about the supposed inefficiency of a public system. Stop worrying about the profit margins. None of that matters.

Public systems are not about the bottom line. They aren't about making a profit. And they certainly aren't designed to make the wait for each individual as short as possible.

They are designed to help the most number of people possible the best they can. If that means an average wait period of 3 hours instead of 2, so be it. If it means you have to wait an extra week to have a non-emergency procedure, so be it. If it means the system does not make a profit off the denial of service, so be it.

That's the entire point. These public systems are designed NOT to be exactly like the for-profit systems. They are designed to be altruistic and broad reaching.

[Squinch]

1. They also assume that you have the coverage to see a doctor in the first place.

For some people pre-Obamacare, the wait was nonexistent because they couldn't afford the visit.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Very true

Another recent conservative argument is that doctors offices will be swamped with new patients because of evil Obamacare.

We, gee, wouldn't that mean there were a shitload of people that previously didn't have access?

[xfundy]

3. It's better to wait a little than to have no healthcare at all.

[Shampoobra]

4. Longer than 15 years?

The last time I had a checkup was 1998, and it was part of a mandatory pre-hire process that my employer paid for. I've never been able to afford health insurance (until now, thanks to the ACA), and have never had a job that provided it.

So another strange thing about the "you'll have to wait longer" argument is that some of us wouldn't exactly panic if we were to learn that we wouldn't be able to see a doctor for a few months.

[distantearlywarning]

5. What I find strange about those arguments:

I have some of the best private health insurance money can buy, thanks to my employment at a large R1 university attached to a medical center, and I live in a large urban center where one of the major industries is health care.

And I *still* have to wait nearly 4 months to see any kind of specialist, and over a month to see my PCP. Same with the dentist (2-3 months out on average). Yay, "efficient" private health insurance!

Unless Obamacare is going to make the wait times a year long or something (I seriously doubt it), I can't imagine it's going to make much difference for most of us.

[etherealtruth]

8. The argument is disingenuous at best

[SomethingFishy]

6. It's mostly bullshit anyway...

You would never have to wait for an emergency procedure, and any wait time would probably be equivalent to waiting for your insurance company to "approve" any procedures.

[Hekate]

7. Yes. Also if you have no access to affordable care you can wait outside the door until you die...

... which is certainly something the anti-Obamacare jerks don't like to mention.