Now that 32 million more people will be insured............??

middleageNP · Mar 24, 2010

I think there will be an increase demand for RNs all over the board; especially in FNP, LTHC, and practitioner's offices. Though I'm not sure if salary will increase.

ItsTheDude · Mar 24, 2010

well, 32 million more doesn't happen until 2014.

obviously the demand for services will go up and as far as nurses are concerned, there's is a national surplus of nurses right now.

the cost of health insurance will go up, just like it ALWAYS has.

health care providers will make more money, less unpaid bills (insurance) and less staff needed for collections.

fewer emergency room visits, due to less uninsured.

etc.

Student4_life · Mar 24, 2010

Less ER visits? Are you mad? As in crazy, not angry. Nearly 80 percent of the non-life threatening ER visits are by the insured from not wanting to wait to see a doctor, now lets assume that 66% of that 20 percent that is not insured are legal us citizens, it stands to reason that 80% of them will also go to the ER instead of waiting to see a PCM. So overall you will have a 3% drop in ER visits. Not sure how that helps. Additionally with the increased demand for PCM's and a decreasing supply (PCM's continue to get paid less and less by medicare and medicaid) the avg wait time was already going up to see a PCM, now with 32 million more patients, that wait can only go up, therefore more people will find it more convinent to go to the ER, especially if it is free, or paid mostly by someone else...

There is a provision to increase the nursing loan amount to 35k for 30k, grants for NP and PA programs and an unnamed incentive plan to encourage Medical Students to enter primary care (although that already existed by medicare paying for a lot of PCM residency postions, making it easier to get into PCM residency). There is also talk of loan forgiveness for PCM's.

Mission · Mar 24, 2010

If you're an NP get together with your other NP buddies and open an urgent care clinic with evening and weekend hours.

tamika1130 · Mar 24, 2010

I think there will be a big demand for nurses and NP's . this is going to create a problem because we need more nursing programs, and educators, especially in fla. there are a few nursing programs, but they can only accept so many on the BSN. degree.

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 24, 2010

There will not be less ER visits, unless EMTALA changed and/or ER service split on Emergency proper and Urgent Care. There are just too many folks who'd never had a primary care doctor and have no idea how to use PCM services; and there are too much problems which, while not life-threatening, clearly cannot wait for weeks and months.

I really doubt it will be a big rush of new PCM MDs. It is rather difficult to convince a young doctor that he/she can work for like $120.000/year minus business spendings and malpractice insurance while having like $200.000 student loans and NO chances at all to change specialty. If goverment decides to forgive those loans completely and will not require to spend several years in the middle of nowhere as a payment, even then it will take 5 years at least to get first results. Plus we have open issue with tort reform, which is not even about to be discussed yet.

That's what happened in every country after adoption of goverment-based health care program - role of mid-levels, whatever they are named, increased. Why US should be an exclusion? Hopefully, there will be 24-hour Urgent Care clinic in every neighborhood staffed with NPs (who already have right to practice independently) or PAs. It can take care for gppd 3/4 of the non-emergency problems; the rest belongs to ER proper or office.