Primary Care Physician Shortage: Increased Demand and Insufficient Supply

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is attempting to reform the organization, delivery and reimbursement rates associated with the health care system. The current healthcare system supports the provision of fragmented, uncoordinated care, which has contributed to its high costs and has led to a system that is not strongly based on primary care. As a result of this system, the unfavorable stigma of the primary care field, and the much higher income made by specialists, there is a shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs). This paper will first describe and analyze the current primary care physician shortage and the factors that have contributed to this shortage. Next, it will describe current projections regarding the future PCP shortage and, in so doing, will establish that the current shortage will be exacerbated by both demographic changes and the increased demand for PCPs created by the ACA’s encouraged utilization of primary care. It will briefly outline the different models implemented in the ACA that are centered around or coordinated by PCPs and will thus lead to an increased demand for PCPs. This paper will then analyze the incentives put in place by the ACA to encourage augmentation of the primary care physician workforce to help address and alleviate the primary care shortage. Finally, this paper will argue that the ACA incentives are not adequate enough to solve the primary care physician shortage due to their lack of focus on alleviating the income gap between PCPs and specialists and their inconstant support from Congress