More Warning Calls about Physician Shortages

Yesterday, the Arkansas surgeon general told a state legislative committee that the state’s physician shortage would be worsening once health reform is implemented.  Dr. Joe Thompson testified that 80 to 90 percent of Arkansas’ 500,000 uninsured residents will become newly insured, most of them through an expansion of the Medicaid program.  He emphasized that the state already has severe doctor shortages in its rural areas.

At the same time, Physicians News Digest is quoting a report by the New Jersey Council of Teaching Hospitals which projects that New Jersey will have a shortage of approximately 2,800 physicians (and as many as 3,250) by the year 2020.  In New Jersey, health reform will add roughly 1.3 million patients to the newly-insured rolls.  The Council projects severe shortages in primary care as well as neurosurgery and pediatric subspecialties.

We’re going to be hearing more warnings like these, most likely from every state.  There’s no debating that addressing the uninsured problem in America is a good and necessary thing.  But, we can’t be complacent in believing that expanded coverage necessarily leads to expanded access.  It’s quite clear that our rapid increase in covered individuals is going to outpace the supply of physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals able to provide care.  As policymakers revisit health reform, which it inevitably will, addressing these shortages has to be an urgent priority.