Doctor of money shortage in California?

• Main Author: Robbins RA
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Arizona Thoracic Society 2019-07-01
• Series: Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care
• Subjects: Medi-Cal; shortage; doctors; student debt; reimbursement; nurse practitioners; medical education; doctor shortage; California Future Health Workforce Commission; loan forgiveness

No abstract available. Article truncated after first 150 words. An LA Times article titled “California doesn’t have enough doctors. To recruit them, the state is paying off medical school debt” describes a program where the State of California will pay off student debts using Proposition 56 tobacco tax revenue (1). California’s program is aimed at increasing the number of doctors who see Medi-Cal patients which has not kept pace with the rapid expansion of the state’s healthcare program for the poor, which now covers 1 in 3 residents in the state. The trends of decreasing doctors who accept Medi-Cal along with the increasing number of Medi-Cal patients led healthcare, education and business leaders to form the California Future Health Workforce Commission (CFHWC) in 2017 to study the state’s impending healthcare crisis (2). The CFHWC task force ultimately proposed a $3-billion plan over the next 10 years including $120 million for loan forgiveness incentives that’s meant to ensure physicians and …