Health Care Bill Now Passed - More Doc?

Has anyone given any thought to what the new Health Care Bill would mean for us future docs? It appears a plus for the needs for more FP’s.


However, if there will be approx. 33 million more people in 2014 needing to see docs the system would overload. How can there be enough doctors to handle that load?


I heard the Emergency Room/Depts. will be getting the overload from people that cannot get an appointment with their FP’s.


I guess we should all be prepared to be extremely busy no matter what field we are in.


I saw a resent poll taken with FP docs saying that 67% said they would have gone into a different field if they knew back then what they know now. I find that heard to believe but if that is true then maybe they were in it for the wrong reasons. Thoughts?

Thanks for posing this question! I am trying like crazy to get feedback from current physicians and others in the medical field on this new health care bill. I have heard nothing much but negative reviews which propel me to think I should switch fields–perhaps something else in health care other than a physician as it seems physicians and their pay will be government regulated. I truly want to be able to help people in the physician manner but not if I cannot pay off my student loans and live a comfortable life.

Thanks for responding. This is huge news in the health care field. I was beginning to think that some people are not looking at the big picture.


We need to look at the positives too. With the passage of this bill, it should be easier to get into medical school. In 2014 (When it goes into full effect) there will be such a need for FP/IM/EM doctors. There will more medical schools as well (See link below)


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/education/ 15meds…


In addition, there will be more loan forgiveness programs available to doctors willing to practice a few years in a low income area. That does not mean you need to move to East Los Angeles to practice. Most of the programs are available in the poorer areas of the cities.

There is a Primary Care initiative that provides additional pay to providers in FP, IM (and its subspecialties), Peds and OB. It includes all of the “cognitive” speciaties that bill > 60% in E/M codes rather than procedureal codes except Neurology. The goal is to improve the number of physicians choosing those fields as well as to recognize the importance of the cognitive fields.


However, the Sustainable Growth Rate, meaning a Medicare reimburesement cut of 21.3%, was not included and was also not passed by the Senate prior to their recent recess. Technically, Medicare will cute physician reimbursement by 21.3% starting April 1st.

I have concerns about this as well. I have just started taking my prereqs and am now considering changing to the Physician assistant program. You don’t have as much time in school, get paid well, and get to do much of what a doc does. Wondering if anyone else is considering this option?

What are the Pre-Reqs for the PA program? Do you need to still take all the sciences? How about the MCAT?