Federal Health Care Overhaul Will Cause Shortages

By HHIE, on July 24th, 2010

U.S. Physician Shortage May Worsen Following Healthcare Overhaul

The same theme is being seen across many states, with more than 30 million patients becoming eligible for medical insurance. Tom Davis, the head of Coventry Healthcare of Georgia, said the combination of a shortage of doctors along with a flood of new patients could cause “a bottleneck to primary care.” Maine, meanwhile, is the oldest state in the nation, with about 14 percent of the population over the age of 65. In about a decade, one of every five Mainers is expected to be a senior citizen. There are about 100 unfilled openings for primary care physicians in the state right now,” said Marc Hahn, dean of UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. The state also is in short supply of other medical professionals, including nurses, therapists and pharmacists.

Health care reform will not succeed without an adequate supply of primary care physicians, making it incumbent upon Congress to enact policies that increase the nation’s primary care physician workforce. That’s what AAFP President-elect Lori Heim, M.D., of Vass, N.C., said during testimony before the House Small Business Committee here on July 8.

AAFP President-elect Lori Heim, M.D., testifies before the House Small Business Committee on the importance of increasing the primary care workforce. American Osteopathic Association President Carlo DiMarco, D.O., shown here at right, echoed Heim’s concerns about shortcomings in graduate medical education funding and physician payment in his testimony.

Heim told the committee that the current supply of primary care physicians is “far from adequate,” and future projections about upcoming shortages are “truly alarming.”

Dr. Joe Thompson told a legislative panel that between 80 and 90 percent of the state’s 500,000 uninsured will become covered under the health care law. Thompson said most of those will come from an expansion of the Medicaid program. Arkansas’ surgeon general told lawmakers Wednesday that he’s worried the state won’t have enough medicalproviders to care for the thousands of newly insured covered under the federal health care overhaul.

Increasingly many are looking toward healthcare information technology to help alleviate some these future bottlenecks. Hawaii County’s 2010 health care conference, “Building a Healthier Future Together,” will convene on Friday, Aug. 13, at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott. Mayor Billy Kenoi also will introduce the Hawaii County Beacon Community Grant, a $16 million federally funded initiative to accelerate the use of health information and technology in an effort to reduce costs and improve the quality of health care and overall health on Hawaii Island.

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