April 1st, 2010 10:38 AM Eastern
by Dr. Marc Siegel
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges there will be a 160,000 doctor shortage by 2025 now that health reform has passed (there would have been 120,000 if it hadnt). The American Academy of Family Physicians predicts we will be 40,000 primary care doctors short over next 10 years.
BUT this isnt the whole story.
There will be a RELATIVE doctor shortage in every doctors office in the country, as waiting lines grow longer, and more and more doctors drop insurance because they cant afford to pay their expenses. Even if you are one of the lucky 16 million with a new Medicaid card, you will soon find that more than 50 percent of doctors dont take it and the networks are drying up.
If you are a senior, you may find less and less doctors taking Medicare, especially as fewer services are approved, and reimbursements to doctors (especially specialists) continue to decline.
The kind of insurance that is being promoted and mandated by the health reform bill is too easy to overuse, clogging up doctors offices and leading to more and more often unnecessary tests and procedures ordered by doctors who fear malpractice (and are desperate for tort reform).
Much more on this @: The Doctor Shortage Isn’t Just a Lack of Doctors FOX News Health Blog FOXNews.com
by Dr. Marc Siegel
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges there will be a 160,000 doctor shortage by 2025 now that health reform has passed (there would have been 120,000 if it hadnt). The American Academy of Family Physicians predicts we will be 40,000 primary care doctors short over next 10 years.
BUT this isnt the whole story.
There will be a RELATIVE doctor shortage in every doctors office in the country, as waiting lines grow longer, and more and more doctors drop insurance because they cant afford to pay their expenses. Even if you are one of the lucky 16 million with a new Medicaid card, you will soon find that more than 50 percent of doctors dont take it and the networks are drying up.
If you are a senior, you may find less and less doctors taking Medicare, especially as fewer services are approved, and reimbursements to doctors (especially specialists) continue to decline.
The kind of insurance that is being promoted and mandated by the health reform bill is too easy to overuse, clogging up doctors offices and leading to more and more often unnecessary tests and procedures ordered by doctors who fear malpractice (and are desperate for tort reform).
Much more on this @: The Doctor Shortage Isn’t Just a Lack of Doctors FOX News Health Blog FOXNews.com