Studies suggest doctors, dentists can't keep up with health law's insurance expansion

Two studies find that primary-care doctors will be in short supply in the future.

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Providers Tough To Find For Many States, Report Says
More than half of U.S. states and territories surveyed earlier this year by the Government Accountability Office reported it was a challenge to find enough dentists, specialists, primary-care doctors or other providers to care for Medicaid patients, a newly released report said. The online survey of the District of Columbia, U.S. states and five territories, conducted between February and May, found dentists were the most problematic provider. ... Mental health and substance abuse provider participation was a challenge for 17 of the surveyed Medicaid officials, and the same was true for primary care (Evans, 11/18).

Reuters: U.S. Will Need 52,000 More Family Docs By 2025: Study
A growing and aging population, along with increased access to health insurance, will create the need for 52,000 more primary care doctors within the U.S. by the year 2025, according to a new study. ...  "A lot of the increase in utilization is going to be from population growth. That's going to be the largest driver. Then, a smaller percentage is actually going to be from [the health law's] insurance expansion," said [author Dr. Winston] Liaw, who was a fellow at Washington's Robert Graham Center when the study was written (Seaman, 11/16).