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Doctor Shortage to Increase Under Obamacare

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Wednesday, 01 August 2012 13:06

Written by Cliff Levine

Obamacare, no thanks to Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, is now the law of the land.  The only way to repeal it is to elect Mitt Romney and take control of the Senate.  But it's time we look at the serious problems this law brings to America, which will affect everyone that's used to seeing a doctor at their convenience.  Following Europe's path, Obamacare will create a doctor shortage, resulting in less care.  But as we know, Obamacare has nothing to do with health care reform.

According to The New York Times, of all places, by 2015 the country will have 62,900 fewer doctors than needed.  That number will double by 2025.  When the law begins in 2014 - as planned by Democrats so voters wouldn't experience the problems created by the law before the election - coverage will be extended to 30 million Americans.  Of that amount, roughly 12 million are uninsured.  The remaining individuals have either opted out of purchasing health care, or they're illegal aliens getting a free ride.

“We have a shortage of every kind of doctor, except for plastic surgeons and dermatologists,” said Dr. G. Richard Olds, the dean of the new medical school at the University of California, Riverside, founded in part to address the region’s doctor shortage. “We’ll have a 5,000-physician shortage in 10 years, no matter what anybody does.”

Experts describe a doctor shortage as an “invisible problem.” Patients still get care, but the process is often slow and difficult. In Riverside, it has left residents driving long distances to doctors, languishing on waiting lists, overusing emergency rooms and even forgoing care.

The pool of doctors has not kept pace, and will not, health experts said. Medical school enrollment is increasing, but not as fast as the population. The number of training positions for medical school graduates is lagging. Younger doctors are on average working fewer hours than their predecessors. And about a third of the country’s doctors are 55 or older, and nearing retirement.

Physician compensation is also an issue. The proportion of medical students choosing to enter primary care has declined in the past 15 years, as average earnings for primary care doctors and specialists, like orthopedic surgeons and radiologists, have diverged. A study by the Medical Group Management Association found that in 2010, primary care doctors made about $200,000 a year. Specialists often made twice as much.

Is this an unintended consequence of Obamacare?  Absolutely not.  Government intervention and, ultimately, government takeover of the health care system has driven doctors away from the profession.  Getting reimbursed by the government on pennies on the dollar also has contributed to fewer doctors within the system as well.  But most of all, you'd have to be insane to think 30 million people could get added to the health care system without it affecting the doctor / patient balance.  This is why it takes 48 days to see a doctor in Massachusetts and over six months in Europe.

Socialized medicine does not work.

Cliff Levine is a contributing editor for Habledash.