WASHINGTON -
Expanding health care coverage to millions more Americans won't do any good if there are no doctors to care for them. That was one of the concerns discussed at a Senate hearing chaired by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Sanders says government projections show 52,000 more primary care physicians will be needed by 2025 to meet the needs of the growing population and the expanded number of people with insurance.
"The good news is that in 11 months 30 million more Americans will have access to health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The bad news is we don't know how we are going to be providing primary health care to those Americans who now will have health insurance," said Sanders, I-Vermont.
Sanders wants Congress to invest in more federally-funded community health centers to help address the problem. Experts also say more incentives are needed to keep young doctors in primary care instead of more lucrative specialty fields.
