Yes Dr. Patterson, having primary care clinics (note the plural) for AHCCS patients sounds like a great idea.  Why don’t you persuade your Republican friends to do that?  Actually, there are quite a few such clinics in the Valley, and I do believe they would welcome the additional business.  No need for a new infrastructure.

There remain a few wrinkles to be ironed out, and I invite mainly you, but of course all and one, to respond on this site:

Who would decide whether a patient should go to the clinic or to a regular family physician?  Self-diagnosis, or a kind of triage (“death panels”, to borrow from Sarah Palin), or a decision by the clinic after they drag themselves in?  And can Medicaid funds be re-purposed? Of course we all pay for Medicaid, but as i mentioned before, some of us pay taxes gladly, and at a higher rate than Mitt Romney or you, to help our less fortunate fellow citizens.

By the way, if you google “Medicaid Outcomes”, your statement that it is worse than no insurance has very little support.  But why let facts get in the way of ideology?  Which reminds me: Your assertion that Obamacare, which will provide universal coverage, needs to be abolished to institute a clinic system, really requires a willing suspension of disbelief…  

You can post comments to my blogs by clicking on the “Leave a Comment” link or on http://www.bododiehn.net/hello-world/ , and I will reply publicly (where called for) as soon as I can.