2014, the far off-year that Obama supporters have long-awaited and Republicans have effortlessly tried to forestall is less than a month away.
That’s right, it’s the year that the Affordable Care Act, now known as Obamacare, finally takes full effect.
Surely everyone has heard about the new system’s plethora of technical difficulties when the website first launched, but it’s going to take more than a few webmasters to iron out all the kinks and shortfalls that are around the corner. The new legislation is getting mixed reviews in recent weeks by consumers all across the country via social media outlets. Some people are displeased about losing their current plan and having to now pay more while others are getting quotes that save them money or finally getting coverage.
One of the major concerns with expanding the healthcare market is an inevitable shortage of doctors. This is a scary concern for many people and unfortunately becoming a reality faster than it can be dealt with. To add insult to injury, government agencies have also continuously stepped up regulations on doctors in recent years and increased the amount of legal paperwork and rules in the medical industry, as well as the requirements to become a licensed practitioner.
This has taken away many incentives for medical students to become doctors. It has also led many doctors to retire early to avoid new regulations.
Doctors are also opting to work for large medical facilities instead of their own private practices. Patients searching for doctors are often met with rejections and long waiting periods. Making it harder on the doctors while expanding the health care market at the same time is not a sustainable combination. There needs to be more incentives and fewer regulations to meet the demands of 30 million or so new patients.
Another massive impending issue that was not caused by Obamacare but certainly doesn’t make things any easier is the ongoing retirement of the baby boomer generation.
Not only are there more people in the senior citizen bracket than ever before in American history, but on top of that people today are living longer than earlier generations thanks to modern medical technology. Many people retiring now could very well live into their nineties and soon crossing the century mark will be a more common accomplishment.
The nation’s Medicare bill will inevitably keep growing and it is a real possibility that individual coverage may be trimmed along with stricter eligibility requirements.
Obamacare’s implementation is no longer something that can be pushed down the road or resisted, it is becoming reality and if it is going to be the new health care system for decades to come then the doctor shortages, Medicare management, and technical difficulties are issues that must be addressed now in some way to avoid or mitigate future catastrophes.
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