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Newly insured will worsen SD doctor shortage
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota has struggled for decades to deal with a shortage of family doctors in rural areas, and the shortage is expected to grow next year when the federal health care law allows more people to get insurance coverage.
• The South Dakota State Medical Association estimates the state's shortage of primary care doctors is now about 100. Medical Association President Daniel Heinemann says the shortage could reach 200 in the next decade, meaning an additional 20 a year should be recruited to replace retiring doctors, care for an aging population and cover people gaining coverage under the federal health care overhaul.
• To deal with the shortage, medical school classes and residency programs have been expanded, and financial rewards are offered to new doctors who agree to practice in rural areas.
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How some states are addressing doctor shortages
The Associated Press
• How some states are working to address a shortfall of primary care doctors:
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• CALIFORNIA
• A package of bills moving through the Legislature is aimed at addressing California's medical provider gap. The legislation would allow nurse practitioners, optometrists and pharmacists to expand the types of services they can provide patients. The proposals face heavy opposition from doctors, who favor training and placing more primary care physicians in rural and other underserved communities. Opponents also worry such changes would create two classes of medical care -- one for people who have access to doctors and another for people who don't.
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• DELAWARE
• Among the steps Delaware officials have taken to address the primary care physician shortage is a loan repayment program for primary care providers who commit to work in underserved areas. The program, funded by the state and federal governments, provided more than $360,000 in loan repayments to seven primary care pro (Continued on page 21)
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