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Monday, February 11, 2013

California's "Solution" To Its Doctor Shortage

California has been at the forefront of ObamaCare implementation, but state lawmakers are facing a major obstacle: There aren’t enough doctors in the state to treat the expected influx of newly-insured patients.

A government council has recommended a physician-to-population ratio of 60 to 80 primary care doctors per 100,000 residents. Only 16 of California’s 58 counties reach this recommended supply of primary care physicians.

With ObamaCare, it’s only going to get worse.

The huge influx of newly-insured patients with ObamaCare is not the only reason for this lack of doctors. In a recent Physicians Foundation Survey, 13,575 doctors were asked how the passage of ObamaCare has affected their feelings about the future of healthcare in America. 59.3% of those surveyed said they were “less positive” about the future of American healthcare.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

california dreamin' now california nightmare brought on by the california clueless and gov. moonbeam...

be careful, because it's been said as california goes, so goes the country.

may God help us, because we sure need it.

Anonymous said...

I have talked with doctors that have left their medical practice and went to teaching. No hoops to jump through. Doctors are going to be retiring left and right as this stupid obamacare come in to full effect. It is amazing how many stupid people we have in congress; and more amazing is the stupid people that put these people in office. Very depressing.

Anonymous said...

What's going to happen when doctors get tired of 18hr days, 7 days a week? The quality of health care will be history.

Anonymous said...

We have heard the "doctors will leave the profession" routine over and over. Usually it's a false meme about the cost of malpractice insurance or the need for tort reform. Now it's the dreaded Obamacare.

My doctor has a practice that is 99% Medicare. He lives in a million dollar waterfront home and drives a very expensive Mercedes. Is it unreasonable to assume that he's doing rather well for himself? BTW, I don't begrudge him his success. He planned well and works hard- but make no mistake about it he is a wealthy self made man and Medicare has paid for every bit of it.

The simple truth is that the America has a very high population to doctor ratio compared to other European and descendant countries. We have allowed the AMA to keep a stranglehold on the universities as well as the services of Nurse Practitioners. I'm not a doctor but I can do what my doctor does most of the time. The bloodwork reports tell you when something is out of whack. A machine can take your blood pressure. A big part of the problem in this country is that we have doctors doing work that a nurse could do. Why? Because doctors get to be millionaires that way. - David Hearne