Even with the Affordable Care Act, or maybe some would say because of the ACA, healthcare in the United States is in crisis. No matter how you look at it, the crisis is very real because it works from both ends towards the middle. From a financial perspective there is something lacking across the board and from the patient’s perspective, little has really changed to alleviate some of the health risks they had faced in the past.
A Critical Shortage of Doctors
There is ample evidence to indicate that the shortage of doctors has become critical and it will most likely get much worse if something isn’t done to rectify the situation. Many doctors enter med school with the hopes of making a huge salary but in reality, family doctors are not going to make enough to pay a debt that often runs higher than $250,000 in student loans accumulated just to get that degree. Because they are not making enough money to justify such an expense, fewer young men and women are becoming internists or general practitioners while increasing numbers are studying a specialty. Older doctors are retiring earlier and without an influx of new doctors to take their place, the shortage is becoming more critical by the day.
Nurse Practitioners Are Filling the Void
Since it is so much quicker and less expensive to become a nurse practitioner than it is to become a doctor, many RNs go on to get a master of science in nursing. Some even study a master of science in nursing online like the program you can find here which is something that med students just can’t do. As a nurse you can work once you become an LPN or an RN but a med student needs that degree and to pass the State Bar exam before being allowed to practice medicine. With the ease at which an RN can enter a master’s program, increasing numbers are taking the plunge.
Is Obamacare Part of the Problem or the Solution?
Critics of the Affordable Care Act blame the worsening healthcare crisis on Obamacare. Since Medicare and Medicaid are now insuring greater numbers of people who are mandated to carry health insurance but don’t have the financial means, the government is spending way over its budget. There probably isn’t a way to increase the amount of money the government can pay to incentivize an influx of new doctors and patients certainly can’t control when and how they get sick so they will continue needing services. The only real solution seems to be nurse practitioners who can do just about anything doctors can do with the only real difference being they must work under the auspices of a medical doctor. But, who’s to say how many NPs can work under just one physician?
There is no doubt about the fact that healthcare is in crisis in the United States even with new legislation meant to ease the problem. Doctors are not making enough to justify the high cost of medical school and patients are getting older requiring greater care as boomers reach their senior years. For the moment, nurse practitioners are the only viable solution and it is comforting to know they’re there.