Trajan
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seems logical to me, you cannot increase demand, and not at the very least keep up with the ability to meet supply requirements?
These folks who are retiring are getting some kind of care/access now, so this apparent rush of baby boomers doesn't mean they just parachuted in, they will be moving from one mechanism of care/access to another, but their point is apt in that they will require more care going forward than they did in their middling years, say 20-55 or so...and there will be a whole lot mo' of them.
BUT with the supposed cuts ( which I don't think will ever happen in full anyway) coming to Medicare to help pay for Obamacare, and, adding more folks to Medicare rolls....I don't know, how does that circle get squared?
The Coming Doctor Shortage
We can't insure 32 million more people and cut funding to train doctors by $60 billion.
As they celebrate their 65th birthdays at the rate of 10,000 a day, Baby Boomers are now approaching the stage of their lives when they will need more medical care.
The doctor shortage was fostered in 1996 when Congress capped the number of new doctors Medicare would pay to train, a practice that continues to this day. Teaching hospitals, which now make up about 10% of hospitals nationwide, depend on those Medicare funds to pay about two-thirds of the cost of doctor-training. (Training costs include residents' salaries, malpractice insurance, equipment, the extra time that teaching procedures add to patient care, as well as the added costs associated with caring for the sickest patients.)
snip-
The number of seniors who need more medical care is expected to soar to 72 million by 2020—nearly double today's number.
According to a 2010 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the increased demand means that our nation will need an additional 130,000 doctors, both general-practice physicians and specialists, 15 years from now.
That's about 20% more doctors than we have currently.
But doctors are aging, too. Almost a third of doctors in the country—about 250,000—are over the age of 55. By 2020 they plan on retiring.
Right now we train roughly 16,000 doctors a year. To keep pace with demand, this nation will need to train an additional 6,000 to 8,000 each year for the next 20 years. If we increased the number of training slots today, it would take seven to 10 years for the new doctors to see patients (four years of medical school, plus three years of residency and additional specialty training).
The deficit commission's recommended cuts in training funds must be set aside.
complete article at-
Herbert Pardes: The Coming Doctor Shortage - WSJ.com
These folks who are retiring are getting some kind of care/access now, so this apparent rush of baby boomers doesn't mean they just parachuted in, they will be moving from one mechanism of care/access to another, but their point is apt in that they will require more care going forward than they did in their middling years, say 20-55 or so...and there will be a whole lot mo' of them.
BUT with the supposed cuts ( which I don't think will ever happen in full anyway) coming to Medicare to help pay for Obamacare, and, adding more folks to Medicare rolls....I don't know, how does that circle get squared?
The Coming Doctor Shortage
We can't insure 32 million more people and cut funding to train doctors by $60 billion.
As they celebrate their 65th birthdays at the rate of 10,000 a day, Baby Boomers are now approaching the stage of their lives when they will need more medical care.
The doctor shortage was fostered in 1996 when Congress capped the number of new doctors Medicare would pay to train, a practice that continues to this day. Teaching hospitals, which now make up about 10% of hospitals nationwide, depend on those Medicare funds to pay about two-thirds of the cost of doctor-training. (Training costs include residents' salaries, malpractice insurance, equipment, the extra time that teaching procedures add to patient care, as well as the added costs associated with caring for the sickest patients.)
snip-
The number of seniors who need more medical care is expected to soar to 72 million by 2020—nearly double today's number.
According to a 2010 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the increased demand means that our nation will need an additional 130,000 doctors, both general-practice physicians and specialists, 15 years from now.
That's about 20% more doctors than we have currently.
But doctors are aging, too. Almost a third of doctors in the country—about 250,000—are over the age of 55. By 2020 they plan on retiring.
Right now we train roughly 16,000 doctors a year. To keep pace with demand, this nation will need to train an additional 6,000 to 8,000 each year for the next 20 years. If we increased the number of training slots today, it would take seven to 10 years for the new doctors to see patients (four years of medical school, plus three years of residency and additional specialty training).
The deficit commission's recommended cuts in training funds must be set aside.
complete article at-
Herbert Pardes: The Coming Doctor Shortage - WSJ.com
