Physician Shortage

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is projected to provide health insurance to 25 million Americans by 2016 (Congressional Budget Office, 2014). The U.S. demographics are also changing in a way that will cause an increased demand on the health care system. Both of these changes will result in an increased demand of health care in the US. Due to the limits in the supply of health care providers , a shortage of workers will result which will eventually drive up prices and costs. One method of preventing this shortage is to remove the barriers that limit the expansion of the health care provider supply.
The U.S. population is getting older: the Census Bureau reported the population of people less than 45 years old dropped from 65.6% in 2000 to 60.5% in 2010. While the percent of people 65 years and over increased by 15% between 2000 and 2010 (US Census, 2011, p.2). Age is associated with increased health care demand. Over 56% of people 65+ and 65% of people 75+ make four or more visits to health care professionals. While only 31% of people 18-44 years old make four or more visits (US Census, 2012, table 166). In 2000, people over 65 years old visited the hospitals three times more than the general population, and people over 75 years old visited the hospitals four times more than the general population (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003, p.8). Therefore, due to the fact that ageing population brings about an increasing demand for health care, With the population getting older and thus increasing demand for health care, the US needs to increase the supply of health care professionals.
Several studies have attempted to calculate the increased demand for primary care physicians since the ACA was passed into law. ...

... middle of paper ...

... to economic rents (Folland, Goodman, & Stano, 2010, p. 335). Others determined in 1998 that physicians’ monopoly power allowed them to charge 23 percent over their marginal cost (Folland, Goodman, & Stano, 2010, p. 335).
As long as the AMA restricts the number of new physicians being trained, and leaving the U.S. unable significantly increase the supply of physicians to meet the changing demographics and the additional people receiving health care from the ACA, health care costs will rise. Several alternatives have been proposed to lessen the effects of the shortage of physicians. First, physicians could reduce the average time spent with patients, allowing them to see more patients. Second, nurse practitioners and physician assistants could be utilized more efficiently to reduce the burden on physicians and provide health care to greater numbers of people.