The new limits are 10 business days to see a primary care
doctor, 15 days for a specialist and less than 48 hours for most
urgent medical care.
Anthony Wright is with the consumer advocacy group Health
Access California. He says these changes will help patients and
overwhelmed hospitals.
"If we can provide patients with more options in terms of
telephone advice or with urgent care appointments within a day or
two that will take a lot of stress off of our emergency
rooms."
The state says it will monitor wait times through patient
complaints…and make sure HMOs have enough staff to manage patient
loads. But the California Medical Association says the new mandate
could lead doctors to drop sicker, low-income Medi-Cal patients in
favor of new HMO patients. HMOs must comply by 2011.