[www.cnn.com]

With 'Affordable Care' there are theoretically going to be more patients. Some clever person did the math and decided that we 'need more doctors'.

Yet the Affordable Care rules pay doctors less.
And doctors tuition debt load is increasing.

One of my college roomates is a doctor. He's told me several times that he's told his children to Stay Away From Medicine as a career. He expects he may have to go back to Engineering to pay to put his kids through college.

Will we find ourselves having to 'train' 'Barefoot Doctors' the way China did during the Cultural Revolution ? [en.wikipedia.org] (Note the historical change from regional healthcare to 'insurance' ? )

Ed: this is not a 'OMG OBAMACARE is to BLam3 ! LOL' posting. It's merely a question... how badly are we screwed ? Is there a coherent solution that is also politically possible ?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2012 03:35PM by cbelt3.

I think the more pressing question is how to increase the residency program. Thousands of degreed MD's have nowhere to do their residency.

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Pam
I think the more pressing question is how to increase the residency program. Thousands of degreed MD's have nowhere to do their residency.

And of course the HHS Mandate that will force Catholic Hospitals to close will not help that problem at all.

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cbelt3
[www.cnn.com]

With 'Affordable Care' there are theoretically going to be more patients. Some clever person did the math and decided that we 'need more doctors'.

Next time ask Dixon how do they know how many pencils to make in a given year?

More training and spots for primary docs, ob/gyn's, pediatricians and nurse practitioners. All of whom do work that when it can be accessed, reduces the overall cost of American health care.
Maybe the Air Force can do without a tanker or two.

And if American students aren't willing to do the work, plenty of immigrants are willing. Come on over.

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Black Tea

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Pam
I think the more pressing question is how to increase the residency program. Thousands of degreed MD's have nowhere to do their residency.

And of course the HHS Mandate that will force Catholic Hospitals to close will not help that problem at all.

If any Catholic hospital wants to close rather than cover contraception, I don't doubt most if not all will be bought out by a competitor.

Shortage of MDs and lower pay predates President Obama by a longshot. Further, your anecdotal evidence does not match mine. I do not know MDs who cannot put their children through college. They might complain about it, but they are putting multiple children through very expensive schooling.

i don't think anyone is arguing that obamacare is going to fix everything at once.

i'm not certain that medical care demand it going to rise significantly - what is certain is that the number of people paying for it will. and thats a GOOD thing.

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What will it fix?

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Avenger
What will it fix?

there's a minor provision that guarantees that i get the last word in any "discussion" with you

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Matt.... POMTL !!!

The future of health care is not more doctors.

It is more nurse practitioners and physician's assistants.

They are cheaper and can deliver most of the care.

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Bill in NC
The future of health care is not more doctors.

It is more nurse practitioners and physician's assistants.

They are cheaper and can deliver most of the care.

At this point, nurse practitioners make a little less than a pediatrician. PA's make a little less than a NP for primary care. The trouble is that the NP's and PA's are specializing into areas like nurse anesthetists and cardiac cath lab PA's because the pay is better. The quantity of education for those two fields are less than MD's. If you get sick, will there be an MD around to take care of your pressing medical need? Given the trend in GME funding and the lack of expansion of residency training, I'd say that there will be less doctors per patient need as baby boomers get older.

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All I ever really needed to know, I learned from watching Star Trek.
Nassau County, NY

well, they can stop following Obama's pipe-dream and skip college, opting instead for military service or a minimum-wage fast food job, if they really can't make it on a Doctor's salary... poor babies...

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[www.giyf.com]

The ancillary services that stand alone physicians depend upon are a major part of the problem. They bill insurance companies independently and are the source of most of insurance and medicare fraud.