This is all very sad that people cannot get into see a rheum. I suppose that the insurance companies setting rates that doctors have to live with is a part. Malpractice insurance being another. My long time boss's son was a doctor for about 12 years and quit. He said the insurance companies dictated how many patients he had to see in a day to make a decent profit. He didnt want to do that to his patients.
Anyway, when I was first diagnosed with PMR and GCA I was sent to a local doctor. She was and is still making appointments 6 months out. I got lucky I guess because I was her youngest patient and she took me in at lunch or the end of the day after the office closed. She also gave me her personal cell phone number in case there was any emergency.