Let’s talk about our primary care shortage. You know about healthcare reform, about the debates in congress on The Hill, the millions who are uninsured and the millions who are in medical debt. But, did you know that we are about to dive right into an entirely new healthcare crisis? It’s already begun, as with the start of 2010 we are short 16,000 primary care physicians, according to The Wall Street Journal.
This is not a joke, nor a marketing scheme, it’s for real and it’s going to hit very hard when the healthcare bill takes effect. This new bill will give medical coverage to over 31 million uninsured individuals, a wonderful thing, and yet a horrible reality. The reality is that if we are already short 16,000 primary care physicians, what will happen with the healthcare bill kicks in and 31 million newly insured patients are looking for family doctors? That’s probably when the $#@% hits the fan.
According to The Wall Street Journal, within the next 15 years, right smack during the time when the healthcare reform bill will be changing our lives, we will find ourselves 125,000 doctors short of what we’ll need. Right when 31 million new patients are trying to get actual healthcare with their new healthcare coverage, they might not be able to find the doctors to give it to them.
Let’s also add to that mix the fact that we only graduate about 27,000 new primary care physicians each year, and that number is steadily dwindling with each passing school year. Oh, and let’s also add to the table that there is a government cap on the amount of residency positions across the nation. The residency position is the final step in a primary care physicians’ path towards graduation, and because the government must subsidize each training hospital for each resident, they are unwilling to expand that residency cap.
If all of that wasn’t enough to deter a student away from primary care medicine, consider the fact that specialists make much, much more money and attend school for about the same amount of time. Specialists have smaller work-loads, spend more time with patients, and can pay off their student debt quicker them primary care physicians. Let’s not forget that it’s the specialists that get their own reality TV shows and work with the Hollywood types. Why on earth would a student choose primary care over ‘the good life’?
What does this all mean for the patient? I mean, we are already waiting an average of 9 days to get an appointment with our family doctors. In many parts of the nation, patients are waiting an average of 30 to even 46 days just to see their doctor for about 10 minutes! It’s already past the point of reason, and it’s going to get much worse.
But, and you know that we have to throw this in, with the No Insurance Club, you get preferential appointments. This means no long waits to see your family doctor. For more information about our solution to this new healthcare crisis, visit http://www.noinsuranceclub.com.
