The situation is looking dire in Connecticut, and patients are going to have to endure longer wait times. 17 days for instance, to see an internist.

Going to the ED isn’t the answer, as they’re already overcrowded and will not be able to provide adequate follow-up care.

The Hartford Courant wants you jettison physician stereotypes about the affluent doctor:

Lest you are tempted to dismiss these results as the whinings of a privileged class of affluent people, it is time to jettison doctor stereotypes. The average primary care physician, gatekeeper for most health plans, makes $72,000 per year. Medical students begin practice with an average debt of $170,000.

As I wrote in the USA Today last month, government efforts to target physician pay is a notoriously poor way to control health care costs. It will simply make a desperate situation worse.