Sen. Bernie Sanders, Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, is focused on expanding the number of primary care physicians in the US. His recent bill would put $100 billion into community health centers, sometimes called Federally Qualified Health Centers or “FQHCs” in the next five years to train physicians, nurses and other health professionals. If you do not have a primary care doctor or simply need good primary care, consider contacting your local FQHC.
Today, millions of Americans cannot see a primary care doctor without a long wait. Not only can a long wait jeopardize their health, it can cost our health care system more. Without prompt primary care to treat a variety of conditions, people can end up needing costly emergency room or hospital care.
No question that primary care doctors are in short supply. The Association of American Medical Colleges says that ten years from now we will face a shortage of as many as 48,000 primary care doctors.
Kaiser Health News reports that as many as 100 million people live in areas where it can be hard to find a primary care physician. One physician who heads a center on primary care at Harvard Medical School reports that lack of access to PCPs can shorten your life expectancy by as much as a year.
Around 70 million adults in the US–more than one in four adults–say they have no go-to doctor they can turn to when they need treatment or guidance with their health. They must use the emergency room at their hospital. In 2010, more people had primary care physicians than today, even though today more people have health insurance.
For sure, some of the adults who don’t have primary care physicians arguably have not needed them. Many men in their 20s, for example, might have no reason to see a primary care physician if they are healthy. But, even if you take them out of the equation, 47 million adults have no primary care physician to see.
People sometimes see nurse practitioners for primary care. If you include nurse practitioners in the mix of primary care providers, there is arguably less of a shortage than Senator Sanders claims, but the shortage is still meaningful in some parts of the country. The US needs to invest more in primary care.
Here’s more from Just Care:
Leave a Reply