奧巴馬醫改致醫生減收 83%想放棄從醫

83 percent of doctors have considered quitting over Obamacare

中國日報網 2012-07-13 09:00

Eighty-three percent of American physicians have considered leaving their practices over President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, according to a survey released by the Doctor Patient Medical Association.

Get Flash Player

The DPMA, a non-partisan association of doctors and patients, surveyed a random selection of 699 doctors nationwide. The survey found that the majority have thought about bailing out of their careers over the legislation, which was upheld last month by the Supreme Court.

Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020. The new health care law increases demand for physicians by expanding insurance coverage. This change will exacerbate the current shortage as more Americans live past 65.

By 2025 the shortage will balloon to over 130,000, Len Marquez, the director of government relations at the American Association of Medical Colleges, told The Daily Caller.

“One of our primary concerns is that you’ve got an aging physician workforce and you have these new beneficiaries — these newly insured people — coming through the system,” he said. “There will be strains and there will be physician shortages.”

The DPMA found that many doctors do not believe the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will lead to better access to medical care for the majority of Americans, co-founder of the DPMA Kathryn Serkes told TheDC.

“Doctors clearly understand what Washington does not — that a piece of paper that says you are ‘covered’ by insurance or ‘enrolled’ in Medicare or Medicaid does not translate to actual medical care when doctors can’t afford to see patients at the lowball payments, and patients have to jump through government and insurance company bureaucratic hoops,” she said.

The American Medical Association, which endorsed Obama’s health care overhaul, was not able to immediately offer comment on the survey. Spokesperson Heather Lasher Todd said it would take time to review the information in the survey.

Janelle Davis of the American Academy of Family Physicians said the AAFP could not provide thoughtful commentary without studying the survey’s findings and methodology.

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

點擊查看更多雙語新聞

(Agencies)

美國醫患醫學會的一項調查顯示，83%的美國醫生因奧巴馬總統的醫療改革法案考慮放棄從醫。

美國醫患醫學會是一個由醫患雙方組成的非黨派組織，該組織隨機調查了全國699名醫生，發現他們當中的多數都曾因上月才剛由最高法院通過的醫改法案考慮過結束其職業生涯。

即便醫生們不會因為該法案放棄執業，美國到2020年仍將面臨至少9萬名醫生短缺。新醫改法案擴大了醫療保險范圍，導致對醫生需求的增加。而這種變化將加劇當下的醫生短缺，因為活到65歲以上的美國老人越來越多。

美國醫學院協會政府關系主管倫恩?馬奎斯告訴《每日通話》網站記者，到2025年美國醫生短缺人數更將暴增至13萬人。

他說：“我們擔心的主要問題之一是醫生的整體年齡越來越大，新獲得醫保福利的人卻大量涌進醫療系統，這勢必造成壓力，醫生也會供不應求。”

美國醫患醫學會的共同創辦人凱斯琳?塞克斯告訴《每日通話》說，醫患醫學會發現很多醫生并不相信《患者保護與平價醫療法案》能讓大多數美國人更容易獲得醫療服務。

她說：“醫生們都很清楚聯邦政府漠視的現實——政府允許的醫療費標準低得讓醫生無法承擔，病人也面對政府和保險公司的種種官僚障礙，此時，即使有一紙法案規定你擁有聯邦醫療保險或醫療補助福利，仍無法保證你就能獲得醫療服務。”

曾對奧巴馬醫改表示贊同的美國醫學協會還未能來得及對此調查發表評論。協會發言人希瑟?萊修?托德表示，審閱調查中的信息需要一些時間。

美國家庭醫師學會的加內爾?戴維斯說，在對調查結果和調查方法進行必要的研究之前，學會無法對此給出恰當的評論。