Blog Debate: Making Sure We Have Enough Providers

Editor's Note:  This is the third day of a blog debate about what approach we should take on health care reform in 2009 will be Dr. Don McCanne, a retired family physician now serving as Senior Health Policy Fellow for Physicians for a National Health Program, and Jason Rosenbaum, a writer and activist, and the Deputy Director of Online Campaigns for Health Care for America Now! Dr. McCanne will be presenting the "single-payer" point of view, and Mr. Rosenbaum will be presenting the "public competitor" point of view.  You can read the first day's exchange here and the second day's exhange here.

This is Mr. Rosenbaum's response to the question: What are these plans doing to ensure there are enough physicians, particularly primary care practitioners, to cover the huge new influx of patients with coverage?

The lack of providers, particularly primary care providers, in our system is extremely troubling. We don't even have enough providers to go around now, especially in rural or other under-served areas, much less when millions more enter our health care system when President Obama's health care plan is signed into law.

President Obama has been a strong supporter of primary care providers. In fact, he ran for President on a promise of providing a primary care physician for every American. Many of the ideas Obama ran on can concerning providers can be reviewed at http://www.milandevries.org/dfo/info.html. They include things like increasing reimbursement rates and expanding training grant and loan-repayment options for primary care providers.

Health Care for America Now supports expanding the number and reach of primary care providers. We are especially concerned with making sure primary care providers reach under-served communities like rural areas and communities of color, and that those providers are culturally sensitive to the people they are providing care to. Making sure we all have enough providers to give us the care we need is a crucial part of reforming our health care system.

Next:

Read Dr. Don McCanne's response

Read Jason Rosenbaum's rebuttal

(Photo credit:  a.drian on Flickr.)