No surprise to us: Primary care docs disappearing
By Mike Miller · Jul 05, 2010
Writes the Associated Press’s Carla K. Johnson on July 2:
Emergency rooms are the only choice for patients who can’t find care elsewhere. They may grow even more crowded under the nation’s new health law.
That may come as a surprise to those who thought getting 32 million more people covered by health insurance would ease ER crowding.
But experts predict a shortage [of] primary care doctors will force many newly insured patients to visit emergency rooms for their health care.
That shortage was predicted all along and, thanks to Medicaid-Medicare short payments, has been a problem for years now. This is only a surprise to anybody who hasn’t been paying attention.