Obamacare-Caused Doctor Shortage To Come
From the WSJ, John C. Goodman writes:
Here is the problem: The health-care system can't possibly deliver on the huge increase in demand for primary-care services. The original ObamaCare bill actually had a line item for increased doctor training. But this provision was zeroed out before passage, probably to keep down the cost of health reform. The result will be gridlock.Take preventive care. ObamaCare says that health insurance must cover the tests and procedures recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. What would that involve? In the American Journal of Public Health (2003), scholars at Duke University calculated that arranging for and counseling patients about all those screenings would require 1,773 hours of the average primary-care physician's time each year, or 7.4 hours per working day.
And all of this time is time spent searching for problems and talking about the search. If the screenings turn up a real problem, there will have to be more testing and more counseling. Bottom line: To meet the promise of free preventive care nationwide, every family doctor in America would have to work full-time delivering it, leaving no time for all the other things they need to do.
When demand exceeds supply in a normal market, the price rises until it reaches a market-clearing level. But in this country, as in other developed nations, Americans do not primarily pay for care with their own money. They pay with time.
How long does it take you on the phone to make an appointment to see a doctor? How many days do you have to wait before she can see you? How long does it take to get to the doctor's office? Once there, how long do you have to wait before being seen? These are all non-price barriers to care, and there is substantial evidence that they are more important in deterring care than the fee the doctor charges, even for low-income patients.
For example, the average wait to see a new family doctor in this country is just under three weeks, according to a 2009 survey by medical consultancy Merritt Hawkins. But in Boston, Mass.--which enacted a law under Gov. Mitt Romney that established near-universal coverage--the wait is about two months.
Keep this in mind: you will not be denied "free" care - it just won't be available. Someone else will determine when you can see a doctor.
You are sick? The clerk is not sick. Fill out this form. Is the form filled out properly? Then everything which remains is your problem. You are not being denied care - it just is not available right now. {smile}
The solution. Unfortunately for us all, it does not enrich government officials.
Radwaste at August 15, 2012 3:00 AM
Government takes over healthcare, sets standards and hires its own doctors, opens DMV-like facilities in major areas, and serves you how it wishes. End of problem. Don't become ill, except between 9-5, Monday - Friday, or until 7 on Thursdays,
MarkD at August 15, 2012 5:27 AM
"End of problem. Don't become ill, except between 9-5, Monday - Friday, or until 7 on Thursdays"
I actually heard this from a very dear friend of mine as a reason to solve the healthcare/health insurance problem here in the states with socialized medicine.
"People don't take care of themselves, they are over weight, don't exercise, smoke....Long lines and having no guarantee the doctor can see you the next day would be a PERFECT way to solve this problem - people would be forced to take care of themselves"
....and you know what, if all this was only limited to those who took poor care of themselves, I probably wouldnt have said anything....but that is NOT the case. So I responded:
"But what about those of us that do take care of ouselves and when we have an emergency - what of those long wait and lines then? You will also punish people that did NOTHING wrong by forcing those same poor quality servies on them - and demanding they pay top premium for those who will already not be taking care of themselves...because either way - THEY DON'T CARE!?" * See Canada.
She changed the subject. ANd not rudely, might I add. She wasn't pissed. I just think it was not something she really thought through...since she takes very good care of herself and in "theory" I actually kinda get where she is coming from.
It's the application and room to take advantage of the responsible, law abiding people where things fall apart. This never changes, does it?
Feebie at August 15, 2012 9:06 AM
You can provide all the health insurance you want. If you don't have health care providers there isn't shit you can do.
So a doctor's medical license or DEA card won't be renewed because he won't accept Medicare/Medicaid/Obamacare insurance programs.
So he leaves practice.
What are you going to do -- have cops show up on his door step and force him at gun point to provide medical care?
Also do you know what you call the PH.D. in Medicine who graduated 29th in a class of 30? Doctor.
Jim P. at August 15, 2012 7:33 PM
"If you don't have health care providers there isn't shit you can do."
Sure you can. You can shift the TSA into Health & Human Services, and with a wave of a wand, call them qualified providers.
Radwaste at August 16, 2012 3:39 PM
We are apparently seeing a big boom in "retail medicine" - available through nurse practitioners and physician assistants through pharmacies and places like WalMart. I've had no experience with this, but I like the sound of it. It seems to me that there are a huge number of routine health care matters that don't require the services of a physician or specialist. Maybe I ought to be, but I'm not much worried about this.
sixtyfive at August 19, 2012 1:14 PM
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