Is America running out of doctors?
ObamaCare is set to expand the number of insured Americans, but an apparent shortage of doctors could make it difficult to treat them all
POSTED ON JULY 31, 2012, AT 7:54 AM
By the year 2025, the U.S. could have a shortfall of 100,000 doctors. Photo: ThinkStock/Ingram Publishing SEE ALL 103 PHOTOS
The primary objective of President Obama’s overhaul of the health-care system is to extend coverage to the tens of millions of Americans currently without insurance. “But coverage will not necessarily translate into care,” because there may not be enough doctors to treat everyone, say Annie Lowrey and Robert Pear at The New York Times. The U.S. is already facing a severe shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas of the country, and the problem is only expected to get worse as more Americans gain insurance. Here, a guide to America’s dearth of doctors:
Why aren’t there enough doctors?
The pool of new doctors hasn’t kept pace with several factors boosting the number of people seeking care: Population growth, the ObamaCare expansion, and an aging Baby Boomer generation that requires additional medical attention. Enrollment in Medicare, the government-run insurance program for the elderly, is expected to swell to 73.2 million in 2025, up from 50.7 million in 2012. Furthermore, the U.S. is facing an acute shortage of primary-care physicians, leaving many patients without access to general practitioners, pediatricians, family doctors, and other providers of basic medical care
https://theweek.com/article/index/231267/is-america-running-out-of-doctors
