ArticleHealth affairs scholar2026
Medicare appointment availability and wait times vary considerably across four large US urban markets.
Article in Health affairs scholar, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
Introduction: Timely access to primary care is essential for Medicare beneficiaries. Amid growing workforce shortages and consolidation, little is known about whether and how organizational and market-level factors affect access. Methods: We conducted a simulated-patient study of 444 primary care clinics in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Portland to measure acceptance of new Medicare patients and wait times to the earliest appointment. Results: Overall, 77.5% of clinics accepted new Medicare patients, ranging from 96.9% in Los Angeles to just 35.0% in Portland. Among accepting clinics, median wait times for a physician varied from 8 days in New York City to 61 days in Portland. In adjusted analyses, each additional practice site was associated with a 1.5-percentage-point lower probability of accepting new Medicare patients ( Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of local organizational structure and market context in shaping access, with implications for workforce planning and access monitoring.
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