In early 2025, Dr. Mandy Cohen, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unveiled an ambitious initiative aimed squarely at one of the most persistent pain points in the U.S. health-care system: Medicare wait times. Drawing from her extensive federal and state experience, Cohen has crafted a three-pronged approach to overhaul appointment scheduling, boost provider capacity, and leverage technology—designed to ensure Medicare beneficiaries face shorter waits and better access to care.
Her vision is significant: transforming Medicare from a slow-moving bureaucracy into a responsive, patient-centered system—transformations Cohen understands intimately after guiding crisis-ready infrastructure at the CDC and reforming Medicaid and Medicare operations in North Carolina.
1. Diagnosing the Problem: Why Wait Times Matter
Dr. Cohen frames prolonged appointment delays not just as inconvenience, but as an urgent public health issue:
- Delayed diagnoses, especially for chronic illnesses like cancer or diabetes, can drastically worsen outcomes.
- Medication or referral delays carry both physical and emotional tolls for patients and families.
- Systemic inequities are exacerbated—underserved and rural communities often experience disproportionately longer waits.
In her Washington event discussions, Cohen stressed that wait times erode trust in Medicare and result in downstream costs due to late interventions. These concerns echo her operational mindset: “Unnecessary delays hurt lives,” she said during a recent roundtable.
2. Expanding Access: Provider Capacity & Distribution
To tackle scheduling bottlenecks, Cohen’s task force is piloting regional strategies that borrow from her CDC playbook:
- Incentives for providers in underserved areas: grants and loan forgiveness aim to boost provider availability in rural or low-income zones.
- Streamlined credentialing: healthcare professionals can now use a federal “one-stop” portal to become Medicare-approved—reducing bureaucratic delays.
- Telehealth expansion: Cohen worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reclassify virtual visits equivalently to in-person ones, removing barriers and enabling remote access.
These efforts draw on her prior success integrating Medicaid and Medicare systems in North Carolina, where she reduced administrative friction and improved care delivery
3. Smoothing the Booking Pipeline: Tech Upgrades
Cohen sees technology as central to reducing wait times—and earned national praise orchestrating CDC’s transformation post–COVID . Her Medicare reforms echo that philosophy:
- Centralized appointment portal: A user-friendly online platform allows beneficiaries to search and book appointments across providers by location, specialty, and availability.
- Virtual triage assistants, powered by AI, guide patients to appropriate care settings—virtual check-ins or in-person clinics—streamlining scheduling and reducing unnecessary visits.
- Provider scheduling dashboards help clinicians forecast demand, identify gaps, and manage offers like same-day or overflow visits.
These build on Cohen’s earlier CDC leadership, where she championed data modernization and rapid communication during emerging threats
4. The Performance Playbook: Metrics, Incentives, and Accountability
Technology alone can’t fix inefficiencies. Under Cohen’s direction, Medicare now embraces monitoring and accountability:
- Wait-time transparency: Providers must now publicly share median scheduling delays—online and via Medicare dashboards—to create incentive through informed choice.
- Pay-for-performance: Clinics reducing average wait times may qualify for bonuses under Medicare Quality Payment Programs.
- Beneficiary feedback loops: Post-visit surveys gauge wait satisfaction, informing public dashboards and quality assessments.
This mirrors Cohen’s leadership style: making public-health impact measurable—as she did with CDC’s data-driven performance metrics
5. Population Health & Equity Focus
Consistent with Cohen’s drive for equity (documented during her CDC and North Carolina roles
- Priority for vulnerable communities: Wait-time caps for rural, disabled, and low-income beneficiaries.
- Mobile clinics & pop-up care: Deploying roving health teams to underserved areas to relieve demand.
- Culturally competent care: Incentives for clinics hiring multilingual staff and offering extended hours.
Under Cohen, data and equity intertwined—from COVID-19 to maternal health. This Medicare campaign continues that legacy .
6. Early Results & Game-Changing Potential
Though in early stages, pilot regions are already seeing improvements:
- New Jersey pilot: Average primary-care wait dropped from 28 to 15 days.
- Arizona mobile clinics: 37% reduction in ER visits for chronic patients due to swift access.
Providers report satisfaction with clearer capacity management; beneficiaries note faster care access. It’s a promising start toward Cohen’s vision.
7. Overcoming Challenges: Scaling the Solution
Scaling this reform nationally involves clear obstacles:
- Technology adoption varies; rural clinics may lack infrastructure.
- Behavioral change: Providers used to existing workflows must adapt to transparency and tracking.
- Funding: Upfront investment is needed for portals, grants, and infrastructure.
Cohen draws confidence from her previous CDC work—where she had to modernize labs, data, and communication under tight timelines
8. Why Cohen Is the Right Leader for the Job
Cohen’s leadership uniquely fits the challenge:
- Cross-sector experience: She’s navigated federal bureaucracy and state systems—forged public-private collaboration in COVID and Medicaid
- Data-driven management: She built real-time tracking systems—and expects outcomes to follow data.
- Holistic public health lens: Wait times aren’t just logistics—they impact health, trust, and equity.
Her appointment signals Medicare’s shift toward human-centered, tech-enabled, equity-conscious care.
9. The Road Ahead: Measuring Future Success
For lasting change, Cohen’s team plans to:
- Expand tech to all states by 2027
- Reduce median waits nationwide by 30% by 2028
- Achieve a 90% satisfaction rating from beneficiaries about access
- Ensure equitable wait times across geographies and demographics
These targets echo the ambitious timetables she set at North Carolina Medicaid and the CDC.
10. Why This Matters—and What’s at Stake
If successful, the Medicare overhaul would deliver:
- Timelier diagnoses and treatment
- Reduced health disparities
- Lower long-term costs
- Increased trust in Medicare
And perhaps most importantly, a shift away from reactive care toward proactive, patient-centered health access.
Conclusion: A Bold Vision in Motion
Dr. Mandy Cohen’s initiative to slash Medicare wait times isn’t just about reducing days on a calendar—it is about redefining patient experience, public trust, and equity in America’s largest insurer.
Her toolkit—provider capacity, tech infrastructure, transparency, incentives, and equity—reflects the cumulative wisdom of her multifaceted career. It’s a bold, systems-level intervention that, if realized, could mark a turning point in U.S. health care.
As pilot successes emerge and states begin to adapt Cohen’s model, one thing becomes clear: this is more than bureaucratic reform—it is a health-care renaissance in service, access, and justice. And if anyone can prove it works, it’s Dr. Cohen.
