Longer wait times and shorter appointments: How healthcare ‘shrinkflation’ is changing YOUR hospital visits
Millions of Americans are waiting months for essential care due to ‘healthcare contractionflation,’ according to new reports.
This economic phenomenon, where the size of a product decreases while prices remain the same or increase, has led to fewer and fewer doctor’s appointments available, while the number of patients increases, doubling wait times in some parts of the country to as much as 22 days.
Healthcare is the latest sector to face inflation, with Americans facing rising prices from the grocery store to the gas pump.
Health care contractionflation could be the result of a combination of factors, but the biggest drivers are the mass exodus of doctors since the pandemic, an increase in the number of people needing care, and changes to national insurance policies that cover fewer health services.
The average wait time for a general practitioner in a metropolitan area is 26 days
Inflation in all consumer goods has increased in recent years. In February there was a 3.2 percent increase in all products, mainly driven by house prices and gas
Dr. Robert Pearl, professor at Stanford University and former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, told Axios: ‘You actually pay more for your health insurance, but you don’t get more. You actually get less.’
The average wait time for doctor’s appointments in 2022 in 15 U.S. cities was 26 days — up from 24 days in 2017, according to a report from AMN Healthcare and Merritt Hawkins.
In some cities, such as New York, the average wait time for a primary care appointment has doubled over the past year, from 11 days in 2023 to 22 days in 2024.
A 2024 Axios poll found that one in five Americans said they had to wait more than two months to see a primary care doctor.
And 43 percent of patients say they have had to wait longer to see a doctor since the pandemic.
One of the biggest drivers of this is the fact that since the COVID-19 pandemic, more patients than ever are seeking routine medical appointments in most areas.
In the U.S., 20 percent of adults reported not receiving medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The backlog that built up during that time is still growing, leading more people to return to the doctor, KFF reports Health Systems Tracker.
In New York, 50,000 new patients have been added since 2021 to the NYC Health + Hospitals organization, a group that includes all public hospitals in the city.
This has led to organization leaders urging doctors to halve the time they spend in-person so they can treat more patients. Gothamist reported.
Another important cause is the shortage of healthcare personnel.
Tens of thousands of doctors left healthcare due to burnout caused by the pandemic. An estimated 117,000 physicians quit their jobs between 2020 and 2021 – as did countless other staff members, such as nurses, technicians and social workers who keep the hospital running.
In 2020, there was already a shortage of healthcare workers across all specialties, but reports showed that the number of employees leaving the sector was increasing overall.
In 2018, about six percent of all healthcare workers left the field, but in 2020, that was about eight percent. Many of them left their jobs without another position available to them, indicating dissatisfaction with the job. a report from 2024 found from Johns Hopkins and Harvard.
To research The American Association of Medical Colleges estimates that America will have a shortage of 48,000 physicians by 2034.
In addition to staffing issues, insurance companies have also reduced the amount of services they cover in their packages.
This increases the personal contribution for doctor visits that were previously reimbursed, according to State Representative Steven Smiththe Vice Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
According to a 2019 survey, about 30 percent of adults with insurance still had trouble paying medical bills of the Commonwealth Fund. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said their out-of-pocket insurance costs consumed more than 10 percent of their household budget.
“Instead of encouraging smarter decisions, these plans have made health care so expensive that many patients are not getting the medical care they need,” said Dr. Pearl.
For those who can afford it, going to private hospitals and clinics is a solution. Others have turned to emergency centers, which are expanding rapidlyinstead of going to a doctor.
But this ignores the vast number of Americans who rely on public health systems, such as NYC Health + Hospitals, Dr. Pearl added.
This creates ‘a vicious circle, where demand grows every year and care becomes scarcer. As a result, demand grows even faster.’
