The Association of American Medical Colleges has released dire projections for the state of healthcare in America in the coming years. The projections say “the U.S. will see a shortage of 46,900 to 121,900 physicians by 2032 in primary and specialty care.”
As CNBC reports, “as America’s population ages and demand outpaces supply, a physician shortage is intensifying.” Additionally, Americans are living longer requiring more physician care as they age which is “slicing the health-care industry in multiple ways.”
Dr. Atul Grover, the association’s Vice President said “we know older patients use two-to-three times as many medical services as younger patients, and the number of people over age 65 will increase by almost 50%, just in the next 10 to 15 years along.”
Even more dangerous is those numbers only cover the patient side of the coin. As for doctors, “one-third of all doctors currently working will be older than 65 in the next decade, and retirements may squeeze supply.”
Dr. Grover lamented “the biggest factor that is limiting their increase right now is a lack of federal support for the government’s share of training costs…Medical schools have done their part over the last 15 years by expanding enrollment by almost 30%. The challenge is that none of those physicians can actually go out and practice in their communities.”
Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey is trying to stop the literal bleed by recently signing a “Universal Licensing Recognition law that makes it easier for people licensed in order states to move to Arizona and gain similar accreditation. The measure is the first of its kind in the nation and impacts licensed occupations that range from barbers to physicians.”
What is not addressed in this article and data collection are the horrendous affects liberal policies have, and have had, on our healthcare system. In a USA Today op-ed written by physician and Fox News Contributor Marc Siegel in 2017, stated the risks:
The consulting firm Deloitte back in 2013 revealed that six in ten physicians reported that the practice of medicine is in jeopardy… the first relevant issue is computerization. Since 2009, Electronic Health Records have been mandatory. Though they present an advantage in terms of the speed of information exchange they also saddle doctors to their chairs, where a routine 20-minute visit is doubled by the time the documentation is complete. For this doctors receive no additional reimbursement.
According to the Deloitte survey and every physician I speak to, we are increasingly unhappy because of shrinking reimbursements (especially but not exclusively Medicare and Medicaid), fear of malpractice, and increasing regulations. We are also swamped with too many patients, in the middle of a growing doctor shortage. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that we will be more than 100,000 doctors short by 2030. Obamacare added more cars to the train, but there are fewer engineers to drive it.
