Increased unemployment vs raising minimum wage

[disneysteve]

The NPs and PAs are hurting the PCPs badly - hospitals are replacing PCPs with mid-levels.

I'm not so sure that the problem is NPs replacing PCPs. I think it's more a matter of there not being enough PCPs to go around as more and more facilities open.

The urgent care system I'm in employs doctors and NPs and they still struggle to cover all of the shifts.

[Nika]

I'm not so sure that the problem is NPs replacing PCPs. I think it's more a matter of there not being enough PCPs to go around as more and more facilities open.

The urgent care system I'm in employs doctors and NPs and they still struggle to cover all of the shifts.

I think lack of physicians is more of a regional problem. They normally do not flock to economically depressed areas, they go where people with money and good insurance plans are. No problems finding physicians in NYC or SF. You can shop around until you get all the qualities you look for. But reading on babycenter boards, you could not believe the crap thats going on in medical offices elsewhere and how patients are treated. That's because they have 2-3 OBs in the area and are out of options.

[disneysteve]

I think lack of physicians is more of a regional problem. They normally do not flock to economically depressed areas, they go where people with money and good insurance plans are.

True, but the same is probably true for NPs. Folks looking for jobs look where the people and money are.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'm not happy that the government gives corporate welfare. I'm with Nika that people working at walmart are the very ones on SNAPs, medicaid, etc. It's ridiculous they can get away with paying people not a living wage and expect the government subsidize their employees.

Isn't it true that the number of doctors hasn't increased since the 1960s? How is it possible that we can't produce more doctors with the rising population?

[disneysteve]

Isn't it true that the number of doctors hasn't increased since the 1960s? How is it possible that we can't produce more doctors with the rising population?

I don't know if the absolute number of doctors has changed but the ratio of doctors to patients is steadily worsening. This is partly due to fewer people going into medicine. There are numerous reasons for that including the cost of education and the shrinking reimbursement to doctors and the loss of prestige of being a doctor. It is also due to the aging of the population as older people consume more healthcare resources than younger people. It is also due to America becoming more and more a pill-popping population expecting to do whatever the hell they want to their bodies and have a doctor there to write a prescription to fix it (which is extremely frustrating to the doctors). It is also due to non-physicians taking on more and more of the work that used to require doctors.

So if you want more doctors, find a way to make medical training less costly, start paying doctors a lot better, give doctors more control over patient care, and turn around the mindset in this country that everything requires a pill and the doctor should be able to treat your every ache and pain while you sit on the sofa playing video games and eating ice cream.