Editorial Board
Lure More Doctors Into Primary Care With ‘Medical Homes’
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The Affordable Care Act is expected to provide health insurance for 34 million Americans who need it and, if all goes as planned, fix inefficiencies in delivering medical care. But the new system isn’t yet prepared to deal with the growing shortage of primary-care doctors.
By 2025, the U.S. will require 52,000 more nonspecialist physicians than it has now. This is mainly because there will be more Americans, especially older ones. The increased number of insured people will only worsen the problem. Projections suggest that when that time comes, the U.S. will have at least 35,000 too few general practitioners. And those we have will be badly distributed, leaving many rural towns and poor urban neighborhoods underserved.