While the Obamacare website rollout may be a huge slap in the face of government (in)efficiency and (dis)organization (healthcare.gov has now joined the ranks of all other New Normal "full-time" workers by working part-time following a daily maintenance shutdown from 1 am to 5 am), the reality is that sooner (unlikely) or much later it will be fixed. And while the realization that the Unaffordable Care Act is just that, and will soak up far more cash from the majority of the population will be a slap in the face of all who never understood that socialist Ponzi schemes always cost far more in the bitter end, it is nothing that America's favorite pastime can't resolve - paying on credit. Which means that the biggest threat to Americans as a result of Obamacare is neither the website, nor really who foots the bill (ask future generations), but the actual impact on services, and as CBS reports the next shock to brace for is the sudden drop off in healthcare providers as an imminent "explosion of demand for doctors and services" mean a looming doctor shortage is just around the corner.
From CBS [7]:
At Current Rate, As Many As 52,000 Primary Care Physicians Needed By 2025. Even doctors who support Obamacare say there could be delays due to more patients and fewer doctors, CBS 2’s Dick Brennan reported Monday.
“It’s like shopping during Christmas time. I mean, you’re going to have a tough time if you have all of these people demanding services at the same time,” said Dr. Steven Lamm of the NYU School of Medicine.
Lamm said the Affordable Care Act could mean an explosion of demand for doctors and services, but will the system be able to handle it?
"I think the concern would be that the system will be overwhelmed, that there will be a greater demand that we can meet in a quality fashion and that we will have to delay services for a lot of individuals,” Lamm said.
Wait, did someone just ask if the "system" would be able to handle an unforeseen consequence? The same system that couldn't even maintain the most foreseen event such as website traffic on the main Obamacare portal into day one? Yes, they did!
In the meantime, doctors are preparing to just say to hell with it all.
Right now, there is already a shortage of 20,000 doctors nationwide, and with healthcare expansion, plus increasing population, there will be a need for about 52,000 primary care doctors by 2025.
This while only 20 percent of new doctors become primary care physicians and the new landscape has older doctors bailing, Brennan reported.
“Doctors are planning to retire. Anybody who is anywhere near retirement age is talking about retirement. … There’s just too much going on,” said Dr. Sam Unterricht of the New York State Medical Society.
Others fear that centralizing medical care will squeeze out small independent doctor groups, groups that insurers claim are more expensive, in favor of large centralized care.
“It will be inferior care. They will end up going to clinics, to situations where they don’t have their own private physician. When they go to hospitals they are not going to know any of doctors who are taking care of them,” cardiologist Dr. David Hess said.
...
Just by sheer numbers, doctor retirements will increase. Nearly half right now are over the age of 50, and the American Medical Association says nurses will also be in short supply, Brennan reported.
The makeshift solution: promote unqualified doctors
Doctors say one solution could be a quick infusion of residents. “They are not training enough residents. The number of medical students has increased a little bit, but the number of residency spots has not. They’ve kept the number of residency spots frozen for, I think, 13 years now,” Unterricht said.
In short: less qualified doctors, as those who know what they are doing, and know what is coming choose simply to retire, offset by a surge in veritable Dr. Nicks.
Yet another unqualified success for central-planning.
The above in video format: