Doctor Shortage

It appears that one of the consequences of the new health care reform is the fact that there is now (or has been for a while) a shortage of primary care physicians to cope with the amount of newly insured patients. An article on AOL news stated that even in Massachusetts doctors have to shut their doors because they can't cope with the amount of patients that are seeking treatment. According to the article some people have to wait 50 days for an appointment.

I was thinking about the problem and I wondered whether a solution to this might be for the government to set up some sort of program like Teach for America where the government forgives some of medical students' debt if they work as a primary care doctor. Since being a primary care physician isn't as attractive to people right now because the pay is less and medical school debt is high, perhaps offering to pay off some of that debt and gain some experience might entice at least some medical students. I know the government (and everyone else) is strapped for cash but maybe investing such a program would be worth it since it could alleviate some of the problems facing the system.


Source: http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-what-good-is-health-reform-if-you-cant-see-a-doctor/19419684?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fopinion%2Farticle%2Fopinion-what-good-is-health-reform-if-you-cant-see-a-doctor%2F19419684