Fewer Family Doctors

Longer hours, pay seen as reasons for decreasing number of primary care physicians.

The Courier (IL) News (12/30, Millsap) reported, "Many in the healthcare industry worry that the lack of enough frontline doctors...will bottleneck medical care," as "reforms under debate by Congress" would require "nearly every American to carry insurance." Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics show that in 2008, an estimated 43.8 million Americans were uninsured, while "today's medical students indicate only two percent are pursuing general internal medicine." According to experts, "the paperwork...and coordinating patient care via telephone calls and emailing with other healthcare professionals" are "reasons primary care physicians often work longer hours than doctors in other fields." Furthermore, "medical specialties pay more than general practice."
Bill would help rural Colorado address shortage of primary-care health professionals. The Colorado Independent (12/30, Redding) reported that rural Coloradoans may find that some of their healthcare needs go unmet, considering 57 of 64 "counties are currently designated as primary-care shortage areas by the US Secretary of Health and Human Services." To reverse that, "the state would have to add at least 182 primary care physicians, 71 dentists," a number of "primary care physician assistants, "and 54 licensed mental health professionals." So, lawmakers have introduced a bill that "would improve a state loan-repayment program for rural health professionals with the aim of attracting more providers" by "raising or eliminating the annual repayment cap." It would also "rename the program as the Colorado Health Services Corps -- to align its branding more closely with the federal loan repayment program," among other things.