Internal Medicine Review

Internal Medicine Review

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Until there is resolution to the current political debate, the healthcare industry will be in limbo. The same thing happened
when Hillary Clinton was leading the push for healthcare reform in 1993. Only when it becomes clear what the future will
be, hospitals and physicians are unable to make plans for the future.

The new health care proposal from Obama claims to:

* makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium
costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today. This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today and makes coverage more affordable for many more.
* set up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have.
* bring greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
* end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
* put our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years and about $1 trillion over the second decade by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

It is also clear from their presentation that they are anticipating attacks based on cost to the American Taxpayer and to the idea that both Social Security and Medicare are at risk, that the change will simply rob Peter to pay Paul. These concerns are addressed upfront: "The Act will protect and preserve Medicare as a commitment to Americas seniors. It will save thousands of dollars in drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries by closing the coverage gap called the donut hole. Doctors, nurses and hospitals will be incentivized to improve care and reduce unnecessary errors that harm patients." and further they state : "The financial health of Medicare will improve and guaranteed benefits will be preserved by ending the 14% average overpayment to private insurance companies under the Medicare Advantage (MA) program." So not only are they protecting Medicare, but they are reducing costs, almost a hat trick.

Weak Economy

With the current economic hardship and enormous job losses across the country, these have unswervingly affected the cash flow to doctors and physicians. When jobs are lost, the loss of healthcare benefits is inevitable, and so access to health care is also. However, many doctors are postponing retirement since watching the stock market annihilate their retirement reserves. This delay will result in a much smaller number of employment opportunities being offered and graduating residents not finding as many available jobs as before. Residents today seem to prefer not to commit to less desirable jobs, and are choosing locum tenens opportunities. They are also putting off committing to full-time employment because of the scarcity and lower salaries. So in the near future, it appears there will be fewer and fewer good jobs available.

Demographics

In the United States, the population of 65+ is going to double by 2035 and will peak being almost one fifth of United States population. Even though older citizens are healthier than previous generations, the numbers of disabled and chronic condition sufferers are on the rise. So the demand for health care will rise for the next 25 years. This is the driving force behind the constant growth for demand of physicians, which may result in shortages of available medical services.

Aging is also directing the supply of physicians. Up to 1/3rd of the current 650,000 practicing physicians will be considering retiring by the year 2020. A shortage of primary care physicians is a particular concern due to this, and also the choice of younger physicians to choose to further specialize. The reason behind this is that further specialization beyond primary is the need for higher salaries to pay for their expensive education. The shortage is expected to hit rural and underserved areas the hardest.

Clearly the Obama administration has its hands full. We are getting older and there are fewer young people to carry this growing financial burden. The Sins of the Fathers.....

About the Author:
Robert Truog founded Physemp.com in 1994 as one of the first online physician employment sites for all specialties including:Gastroenterology Job,
Internal Medicine job and
Family Medicine job.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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