There are large parts of the US where private practices are very rare and the major care provider organizations have multi-month waits for both primary care and

There are large parts of the US where private practices are very rare and the major care provider organizations have multi-month waits for both primary care and specialists. As I understand the overall trend is towards longer wait times but it is significantly worse in some cities than in others. Where I am, for example, it is around six months to get an appointment with some fairly common specialists... and that's a mid-size city with a university hospital and everything. My former primary care doctor only had availability about three months out, but I am fortunate enough to have found a small private practice that has far fewer patients per provider... at the cost that I pay a large annual practice fee to be a patient. I think this is pretty uneven across the country but it is definitely far from guaranteed that you can see a doctor on demand with a short lead time. I have heard of similar problems pretty much throughout the central region of the country. In an attempt to alleviate the situation a number of states have programs where they pay subsidies to providers in areas with longer wait times, but this turns into a complex billing system and states often can't afford enough to really make a big difference. In some ways the private insurers are doing some good here, as several offer "patient concierges" that will do things like try to find a provider for you that's accepting new patients. But in a recent experience that involves calling every two weeks and being told they still can't find any availability, for a couple of months.