Despite the government shutdown and the debt ceiling discussions taking over the media landscape, United States President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, officially began for Americans.
Although there were enormous glitches for enrolling in the healthcare law, many are more concerned over the economic consequences and the potential lack of proper medical care that could come from it.
It has been widely reported over the past year or so that the healthcare reform initiative could enhance the tremendous doctor shortage the U.
S.
is presently facing.
Right now, the doctor shortage is roughly 20,000, but over the next decade that figure could skyrocket all the way to 100,000.
What should also be added is that it isn't just Obamacare that is the culprit for the doctor shortage, but a paucity of young people entering the medical field and the immense bureaucracy that now comes with maintaining a private practice or working for a hospital are contributing factors.
Another element that is on the minds of medical experts is the large influx of patients entering the system.
This means that hospitals and clinics couldn't possibly meet the demands of millions of brand new patients.
The system is already experiencing overcapacity - a local CBS News affiliate profiled families in Dallas, Texas that were informed of longer waiting times or even unable to be given an appointment.
"The healthcare delivery system is changing," said John McCracken, UT Dallas Healthcare Management professor, in an interview with the news organization.
"If, in fact, there is a surge in the number of insureds in this country, there is going to be a surge in the demand for primary care and the primary care physicians to meet that demand are simply not there.
" Astronomical amounts of paperwork, regulations and other red tape could be a hindrance to proper medical care.
The Senate's Joint Economic Committee published a flowchart to highlight the paperwork behemoth that all sorts of doctors, nurses and administrators will have to face over the course of the next several years - the mandate also permits the Health and Human Services Secretary to add to the law as he or she sees fit.
Instead of doctors and staff members taking care of the patient, they could spend a considerable amount of time filling in endless streams of paperwork.
There isn't a definitive number of how much the bureaucracy will cost, but some estimates thrown out there range in the billions of dollars (that doesn't include how much businesses have to pay to follow the regulations).
Obamacare might provide some benefit to a certain percentage of Americans, but there are various unintended consequences that might come from the healthcare reform law.
Due to other interventions into healthcare system by federal and state governments, healthcare providers are already burdened with paperwork from governmental agencies, insurance companies and other regulators.
The U.
S.
is known as the beacon of healthcare quality, but if doctors have to spend a significant portion of their time studying documents, reading over government paperwork and signing forms, Americans may no longer get the healthcare they need.
Time will tell to see the positive or negative impact of Obamacare, but the fact remains: there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to fix healthcare in the country.
Although there were enormous glitches for enrolling in the healthcare law, many are more concerned over the economic consequences and the potential lack of proper medical care that could come from it.
It has been widely reported over the past year or so that the healthcare reform initiative could enhance the tremendous doctor shortage the U.
S.
is presently facing.
Right now, the doctor shortage is roughly 20,000, but over the next decade that figure could skyrocket all the way to 100,000.
What should also be added is that it isn't just Obamacare that is the culprit for the doctor shortage, but a paucity of young people entering the medical field and the immense bureaucracy that now comes with maintaining a private practice or working for a hospital are contributing factors.
Another element that is on the minds of medical experts is the large influx of patients entering the system.
This means that hospitals and clinics couldn't possibly meet the demands of millions of brand new patients.
The system is already experiencing overcapacity - a local CBS News affiliate profiled families in Dallas, Texas that were informed of longer waiting times or even unable to be given an appointment.
"The healthcare delivery system is changing," said John McCracken, UT Dallas Healthcare Management professor, in an interview with the news organization.
"If, in fact, there is a surge in the number of insureds in this country, there is going to be a surge in the demand for primary care and the primary care physicians to meet that demand are simply not there.
" Astronomical amounts of paperwork, regulations and other red tape could be a hindrance to proper medical care.
The Senate's Joint Economic Committee published a flowchart to highlight the paperwork behemoth that all sorts of doctors, nurses and administrators will have to face over the course of the next several years - the mandate also permits the Health and Human Services Secretary to add to the law as he or she sees fit.
Instead of doctors and staff members taking care of the patient, they could spend a considerable amount of time filling in endless streams of paperwork.
There isn't a definitive number of how much the bureaucracy will cost, but some estimates thrown out there range in the billions of dollars (that doesn't include how much businesses have to pay to follow the regulations).
Obamacare might provide some benefit to a certain percentage of Americans, but there are various unintended consequences that might come from the healthcare reform law.
Due to other interventions into healthcare system by federal and state governments, healthcare providers are already burdened with paperwork from governmental agencies, insurance companies and other regulators.
The U.
S.
is known as the beacon of healthcare quality, but if doctors have to spend a significant portion of their time studying documents, reading over government paperwork and signing forms, Americans may no longer get the healthcare they need.
Time will tell to see the positive or negative impact of Obamacare, but the fact remains: there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to fix healthcare in the country.
Source...