Won't be enough primary care family doctors to serve Americans under Obamacare

[cutthemdown]

http://gma.yahoo.com/doc-shortage-co...ws-health.html


The United States will require at least 52,000 more family doctors in the year 2025 to keep up with the growing and increasingly older U.S. population, a new study found.

The predictions also reflect the passage of the Affordable Care Act -- a change that will expand health insurance coverage to an additional 38 million Americans.

"The health care consumer that values the relationship with a personal physician, particularly in areas already struggling with access to primary care physicians should be aware of potential access challenges that they may face in the future if the production of primary care physicians does not increase," said Dr. Andrew Bazemore, director of the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Primary Care and co-author of the study published Monday in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Stephen Petterson, senior health policy researcher at the Robert Graham Center, said the government should take steps -- and quickly -- to address the problem before it gets out of hand.

"There needs to be more primary care incentive programs that give a bonus to physicians who treat Medicaid patients in effort to reduce the compensation gap between specialists and primary care physicians," said Petterson, who co-authored the study with Bazemore.

But such changes may be more easily said than done.

[peacepipe]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

http://gma.yahoo.com/doc-shortage-co...ws-health.html


The United States will require at least 52,000 more family doctors in the year 2025 to keep up with the growing and increasingly older U.S. population, a new study found.
The predictions also reflect the passage of the Affordable Care Act -- a change that will expand health insurance coverage to an additional 38 million Americans.

"The health care consumer that values the relationship with a personal physician, particularly in areas already struggling with access to primary care physicians should be aware of potential access challenges that they may face in the future if the production of primary care physicians does not increase," said Dr. Andrew Bazemore, director of the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Primary Care and co-author of the study published Monday in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Stephen Petterson, senior health policy researcher at the Robert Graham Center, said the government should take steps -- and quickly -- to address the problem before it gets out of hand.

"There needs to be more primary care incentive programs that give a bonus to physicians who treat Medicaid patients in effort to reduce the compensation gap between specialists and primary care physicians," said Petterson, who co-authored the study with Bazemore.

But such changes may be more easily said than done.

so basicly 52,000 great paying jobs will be created as a result of obamacare.

[Kid A]

Originally Posted by peacepipe

so basicly 52,000 great paying jobs will be created as a result of obamacare.

Frankly, reading his article, the new people covered by Obamacare is a small part of the rising demand compared to the growing population of people that live longer and longer. Who were all already covered by Medicare. Which apparently the Republicans would never ever even dream of taking away or cutting down because Paul Ryan has a mom too!

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by peacepipe

so basicly 52,000 great paying jobs will be created as a result of obamacare.

No this isn't partisan. We need a way to make being a family doctor appealling because all the doctors are going into specialties.

I think the govt needs to make the loans cheaper for doctors who go into family practice. Or maybe some sort of tax write off for family doctors.

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by Kid A

Frankly, reading his article, the new people covered by Obamacare is a small part of the rising demand compared to the growing population of people that live longer and longer. Who were all already covered by Medicare. Which apparently the Republicans would never ever even dream of taking away or cutting down because Paul Ryan has a mom too!

There are other factors but it matter little. We need a way to make doctors want to go into family practice. Also we need is fast.

[Kid A]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

No this isn't partisan. We need a way to make being a family doctor appealling because all the doctors are going into specialties.

I think the govt needs to make the loans cheaper for doctors who go into family practice. Or maybe some sort of tax write off for family doctors.

Interesting. Have there been any formal proposals for anything like the loans you mentioned? I think I've heard my friend in medical school mention the issue of attracting med students to accept the pay grade of a family doctor and go into general practice.

[Meck77]

All this talk about obama care and the billions associated with it. It's too bad our government wasn't focused on the real problem which is unhealthy food.

Every business I know is talking layoffs and major cuts in hours.

Like I've said many times. Be careful what you wished for people. It's going to be interesting for sure.

[Fedaykin]

I "love" the implication here from the OP:

* Obamacare gets more people access to affordable care
* We'll need more doctors for that, but Obamacare is only a part of that shortfall
* OBAMACARE IS TEH EVILS!

[Jetmeck]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

No this isn't partisan. We need a way to make being a family doctor appealling because all the doctors are going into specialties.

I think the govt needs to make the loans cheaper for doctors who go into family practice. Or maybe some sort of tax write off for family doctors.

Your middle name is partisan and you know it............

[Jetmeck]

Originally Posted by Meck77

All this talk about obama care and the billions associated with it. It's too bad our government wasn't focused on the real problem which is unhealthy food.

Every business I know is talking layoffs and major cuts in hours.

Like I've said many times. Be careful what you wished for people. It's going to be interesting for sure.

Healthcare needs even more help yet but eating healthy should be a concern as well.

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by Kid A

Interesting. Have there been any formal proposals for anything like the loans you mentioned? I think I've heard my friend in medical school mention the issue of attracting med students to accept the pay grade of a family doctor and go into general practice.

I don't know but they are going to have to do it. We have a shortage already and its only going to get worst.

One fix is that its tough to get work visas for skilled labor in America. It has to be part of immigration reform. Then maybe we can lure some talented doctors from other countries. Mexico, Canada, maybe even Cuba eventually. its not easy to hire non citizens for good jobs like that. My keyboard player works at a samll company in an executive role. They want to hire this Chinese citizen because the job entials being really good at going to China to oversee manufacturing. Just not a lot of Americans that speak Chinese and have the marketing experience to do the job. The ones that do are making way more money then they can pay. But so far they haven't ben able to get the visa.

[Meck77]

In response to your rep comment Tailgatenut.

Your business is too small to be effected by obamacare. Not sure what doubling your work force means. Last I remember from you the economy all but killed your business. Not sure what almost doubling your workforce means. Going from 2 people to almost 4? 3 to almost 6? Anyway good to hear you are still up and running.

It's the bigger companies that are slashing hours and jobs.
One example....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/1...n_2118231.html

No need to sneak rep around Nut. Jump in my buddy.

[lonestar]

Originally Posted by peacepipe

so basicly 52,000 great paying jobs will be created as a result of obamacare.

In your dreams. Doctors are leaving the field because of the pay. More and more are retiring than are coming in..

What incentive does a doctor have to go through 8+ years of college/med school racking up near a million in loans, to get a job that is high stress for Medicare pricing.

The doctors I know and have talked to say they would not do it again.

Then add in the malpractice premiums and that is a double whammy. my old doctor single practice covering one nurse quarter mil a year. He figured in order to cover those costs he had to jack up his office visit price 12 bucks per visit to brak even on it. He retired early.

You liberals and your pie in the sky thoughts. It will all come back to haunt you. Just a matter of time.

[cutthemdown]

obamacare here to stay so now Congress has to fix the problem. Obama needs to put forth something, or some lawmaker does, to entice medical students to want to be family doctors. I doubt that many go to school that we couldn't figure out a way to make the loan so much better, cheaper, that some that were on the fence choose family practice.

It seems like the logical way to approach it. But it may not be enough. The pay difference is pretty severe. We also have to help them make money by not having to get lowballed by medicare with too many patients. Maybe not only cheaper loans but some sort of extra tax write-off first 3 yrs of your practice?

it is a problem, but it was even before Obamacare. Obamacare just means even more people will need a doctor. So its being burnt from both ends.

[Drek]

Originally Posted by lonestar

In your dreams. Doctors are leaving the field because of the pay. More and more are retiring than are coming in..

What incentive does a doctor have to go through 8+ years of college/med school racking up near a million in loans, to get a job that is high stress for Medicare pricing.

The doctors I know and have talked to say they would not do it again.

Then add in the malpractice premiums and that is a double whammy. my old doctor single practice covering one nurse quarter mil a year. He figured in order to cover those costs he had to jack up his office visit price 12 bucks per visit to brak even on it. He retired early.

You liberals and your pie in the sky thoughts. It will all come back to haunt you. Just a matter of time.

So I guess doctors are starting to see how it feels to be a firefighter, police officer, or teacher in today's "no taxes and we want everything cheaper!" economy.

How's that capitalism uber alles mindset working out for you?

[BowlenBall]

Misleading thread title is misleading.

1) The US population will grow by at least 13% from 2012 to 2025, according to current demographic trends.

2) Life expectancy in the states has been continuously trending upward for the last century. In the recent past, it increased from 76.6 years on average in 2000 to 78.2 years on average in 2010. Most likely it will be around 80 years on average in 2025 (or more).

So, yes... we WILL need another 52,000 doctors in 2025.

It just has nothing to do with Obamacare.

[houghtam]

Another boogeyman.

Ooh, I'm scared. Now tell me again about how Obama (or fill-in-the-blank with Democratic President) is coming for our guns! That was a good one!

Hey, at least this one isn't race-based.

[Rohirrim]

There aren't going to be enough family doctors period. I was reading about this shortage before there was any discussion of anything called "Obamacare." This has been going on for a while now. Young people coming out of medical school do not find family care attractive. Dishonest OP.

[cutthemdown]

The article itself discussed how the affordable care act is pushing this issue. To call the thread dishonest doesn't make sense. Yeah huge lie, i made up the artice, got it printed and then inserted the part where the affordable care act pushes the family doctor shortage issue to the front.

[Rohirrim]

It's applying a phenomenon that was already taking place to some other cause, after the fact. Obviously, Obamacare (which I oppose, BTW) has nothing to do with it.

[Pony Boy]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

There aren't going to be enough family doctors period. I was reading about this shortage before there was any discussion of anything called "Obamacare." This has been going on for a while now. Young people coming out of medical school do not find family care attractive. Dishonest OP.

Most hospitals especially in rural area are already gearing up for a doctor’s shortage. In the future unless you have a major illness or require surgery, your primary care will be provided by a NP (nurse practitioner) or a PA (physician assistant) they have many of the same responsibilities as doctors, though they work under a physician or surgeon's supervision. A PA or NA can diagnose a patient and prescribe treatment but usually can't prescribe narcotics.

[TonyR]

http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/8382.cfm

49% say keep or expand Obamacare.
33% say repeal and replace or repeal and not replace.
18% don't know or didn't answer.

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by Pony Boy

Most hospitals especially in rural area are already gearing up for a doctor’s shortage. In the future unless you have a major illness or require surgery, your primary care will be provided by a NP (nurse practitioner) or a PA (physician assistant) they have many of the same responsibilities as doctors, though they work under a physician or surgeon's supervision. A PA or NA can diagnose a patient and prescribe treatment but usually can't prescribe narcotics.

My brother leukemia was spotted early by an awesome family doctor. I wonder if PA will be as good. I agree with you though. Already I see my doctors PA more then I see him when i go to the doctor.

[Pony Boy]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

My brother leukemia was spotted early by an awesome family doctor. I wonder if PA will be as good. I agree with you though. Already I see my doctors PA more then I see him when i go to the doctor.

I have to see my doctor every three months for a complete exam including extensive lab work and was seen by his PA for the first time. The PA was very thorough but before I left the doctor reviewed everything again. I see this as a sign of things to come. I have an awesome lifetime health care plan that is exempt from Obama care regulations and if my plan is looking at ways to cut costs, I’m sure it will hit basic health care plans very hard.

[TheElusiveKyleOrton]

Originally Posted by Meck77

All this talk about obama care and the billions associated with it. It's too bad our government wasn't focused on the real problem which is unhealthy food.

Every business I know is talking layoffs and major cuts in hours.

Like I've said many times. Be careful what you wished for people. It's going to be interesting for sure.

There are SOME trying to push healthier food. Michelle Obama, for one. Of course, she gets roundly mocked by the right for doing just that and trying to encourage healthier eating, as well as for putting healthy food in schools instead of the deep fried crap we were all served as kids. You know, "WE CAN TELL OUR KIDS TO EAT WHATEVER WE WANT TO TELL THEM TO EAT!" because FREEDUMB and LIBERTEEZ.