America has a looming problem -- and Obamacare is going to make it worse. That's the conclusion from two former U.S. Senate majority leaders -- one a Democrat and the other a Republican.
It's rare that two influential members from both major U.S. political parties agree on anything related to the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. But former Democrat Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle from South Dakota and former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist from Tennessee recently co-wrote an article in Health Affairs that pointed out that the U.S. faces a doctor dilemma. And they say that Obamacare seems likely to make the problem even bigger.
A dearth of doctorsWhat is this doctor dilemma? Daschle and Frist wrote that there are "alarming doctor shortages across the country." They're right.
The state of Hawaii reported 18% fewer doctors than needed in 2012. A recent study in the Greater Cincinnati area also found an 18% shortage of primary care physicians in that region. Actual and projected physician shortages have been identified in at least 33 states in the past few years. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that around 30 million Americans live in areas where there are too few health-care providers.
This problem isn't going away. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects that the U.S. faces a shortage of more than 90,000 physicians by 2020. That shortfall will grow to over 130,000 by 2025. These numbers more optimistic than estimates from the American Academy of Family Physicians, which projects a shortage of nearly 149,000 doctors by 202
