"Commentary"-Primary Care Physicians Prescription
Tuesday, July 28, 2009SUZANNE PRATT: Tonight's commentator says the health care reform debate shows why we need more primary care physicians. He's Steven George Ullmann, director of the health sector management and policy program at the University of Miami.
STEVEN ULLMANN, PROF., UNIV. OF MIAMI, SCHOOL OF BUS. ADMIN.: Nearly 20 years ago, Lee Iacocca, former Chrysler CEO stated and I quote, health care costs are bleeding us white. We have now cracked the $1,000 per unit level. That's nearly three times what some of our competitors have to pay. So how can we be competitive? Today, Mr. Iacocca's dire warnings have come to fruition as businesses fail and services move off shore. We made an attempt at health care reform 16 years ago, but that plan failed and so here we are again. The elements of the health care reform we ultimately adopt -- if we do adopt -- may well dictate what happens in terms of our ability to compete and the nature of our economic recovery. Congress appears focused on access, appropriately developing a way to allow 47 million uninsured to obtain health insurance. Debate centers around a government health insurance alternative. This debate is a bit off-base as health care has a long history of simultaneous provision of service by for-profit, non-profit and government providers.
Congress should be focusing on developing a network of primary care physicians and nurses to meet the needs of 47 million additional people. The government predicts a future nursing shortage of 800,000 and only 17 percent of medical school graduates express an interest in primary care. Unless we address primary care, the law of supply and demand will dictate rising prices for health care, rising costs and employers will be affected significantly. Economic recovery and global competition will be impacted by the nature of this reform. Let's hope we get it right. Mr. Iacocca is watching. I am Steve Ullmann.
