HUFFINGTON
08.19.12
PROGNOSIS UNCLEAR
DOCTORS IN DEMAND
In 2008, the demand for primary care physicians
slightly exceeded the supply. By 2010, the
shortage also included specialists. By 2025, the
total shortage of physicians is projected to exceed
15 percent of the demand.
Primary Care
& Specialists
900K
SHORTAGE:
Primary Care
SHORTAGE:
DEMAND
Physicians Projected Supply and
Demand, 2008-2025
SUPPLY
starting in less than 18 months.
Insurance companies are scrambling to find new ways to make
money in a brand-new market
subject to unprecedented national
regulations about who they must
cover, how much they can charge
and what profits they can earn.
Hospitals and other medical providers have to adapt to a world in
which they’ll be getting paid not
just for what they do, but whether
they’re getting more efficient and
whether their patients are actually getting healthier.
Here are the most important
questions about how the law will
be implemented.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGES
WILL WE REACH THE UNINSURED?
The federal government, states,
health care providers, health insurance companies and everyone
else with an interest in seeing
health care reform succeed have a
tough task ahead them: reaching
out to the millions of uninsured
people the law is supposed to
help. Although it might seem easy
to connect uninsured people with
health insurance that will benefit
them, simply making it possible
doesn’t mean it will happen.
“The vast majority of people
500K
’08
’10
’15
TIM WALLACE/THE HUFFINGTON POST
’20
’25
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