Considering we are not adding anybody to recieve health care.....Of course we are prepared. This Obamacare is only to give the people, who don't have insurance, insurance. And that is only about 12-15 million people (5% or less of the population.)

No. Where does the blame lie? With the Federal Government. Allowing over 20 million illegal immigrants into America, all without health insurance, is going to bankrupct America. We cannot afford to continue to dish out free healthcare. The Federal Government has not enforced the illegal immigration laws, so now we are faced with hospitals going bankrupct for giving free healthcare as required by The Federal Government. Illegals know this and instead of paying for health insurance, they go to the nearest emergency room where it is free. Something is terribly wrong with our government that has allowed this situation to come to pass to date. National Healthcare reform is not the answer. it just means that the legal taxpayers are once again going to be robbed of their money to pay for 20 million illegal immigrants.

It's not as if suddenly every single one of them are going to rush to the hospitals. People have always gone to the hospitals without insurance, whether they ended up paying their medical bills or not is another question.

Good question. That could create a landslide however hopefully with preventative care and more revenue things will balance out. I'll believe it when I see it anyway.

this implies that the people who do not currently have health Insurance do not recieve health care. But one can visit a doctor and hospital and get treated without health insurance. This is why so many hospitals have gone bankrupt. so many patients never pay their bills. when I was in my twenties I never had health insurance, but did go to a doctor a few times and paid cash. Once I was hospitalized after being in a car accident, the hospital treated me, although i did not have insurance. Insurance is not a requirement for health care in America

Yes. We will need more hospitals, dr, nurses and everyone else. Why is this a bad thing? Do we not need more available jobs in the US? This is also a way to fight unemployment. And not just in healthcare. Someone have to build those new hospitals, dr offices, and they will need to furnish them also. So again why is this bad?

Definitely not. One only has to look at the state of Massachusetts, where people are still being seen in emergency rooms in droves because they cannot get appointments with their primary care doctors. The problem is that too few medical students are choosing to go into primary care. The projected primary care shortage is huge and worsening. Therefore, like in Massachusetts, people will not be able to get timely appointments and will wind up back in the ER because it's the only way to get medical attention. To make matters worse, the nation's hospitals are overcrowded. Many are cutting beds (and some are even closing their ER's altogether). Because of this, really sick patients can linger in the ER for DAYS because there is nowhere in the hospital to put them, which leaves no room for anyone else, including the people coming in with no primary care physicians. It becomes a vicious cycle. And this is on a good day. Throw in pandemic flu and watch the shit hit the fan...

glad you asked this question!!! the u.s. already only has 80% of the number of MDs and nurses per capita of other OECD nations. when first covering folks, they're likely to see doctors and have procedures they've been putting off for years (can you imagine the line for 20 million mammograms?). i think that it'll be a bit of a challenge at first. this is one of the reasons why we must augment services through IT, international consultation, payment for services by graduate / professional students / interns ... it'll work out fine.

Good questions. Doctors are leaving the medical profession as we debate this. More will leave when the Obama plans kick in, since they will be paid less. We already have a doctor shortage. It will get worse in the years ahead. 40% of current doctors plan on leaving this profession due the escalating regulations. The democrats plan will make it worse. We will have more people with insurance, but fewer and fewer doctors.

I've been associated with a medical school and have a memory for numbers, so let me quantify the problems as best as I remember them... As Americans age, they visit health care providers more frequently. The baby boom generation is getting to that tier now. So, the same about of people will be demanding more healthcare... but new people will be born... and the healthcare workforce will remain substantially the same. Dr. Richard Cooper of the University of Pennsylvania predicts a nationwide shortage of 200,000 physicians by 2015 if more are not trained, and quickly. This shortage would include a shortage of 60,000 primary care doctors, the "gatekeepers" of specialty care. If someone has cancer, they don't just make an appointment with an oncologist... they get referred to one because the diagnosis is made by a primary care doc. Internal Medicine, Family Practice, Pediatrics and OB/GYN are all primary care disciplines. Primary care disciplines are getting less lucrative, costs for medical education are increasing, and more medical students pursue specialties simply because they know that they will be able to pay off their substantial student loans (averaging in the six-figures) more quickly. It has been predicted that the US faces a shortage of 1 million nurses in the very near future. Many of the nurses who work now work in high-stress, long-hour environments, and there is a notable discord between doctors and nurses in many institutions. Newly-minted doctors are flocking to major cities. Rural practice is becoming less and less common as it is less lucrative. Rural health, in turn, is declining in many areas. The median age of physicians is extremely high. Family practice docs are known to practice into their 70's, while many OB/GYN docs deliver their last babies in their 40's. About 1/3 of the physician workforce is expected to retire in the next decade. Under the previous Presidential administration, National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for medical research was not increased, ending or delaying many important research projects. The burden of primary care is more and more being placed on lesser trained Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners. Most not-for-profit hospitals are finding themselves struggling to stay open, and many have a hard time staying modern. The trend is that more and more care is moving to outpatient environments and physician groups (90% of healthcare today is outpatient-based), which are more convenient but less integrated (doctors groups don't talk to each other as well and referrals are more difficult). So, in response to your question, no, we are absolutely not prepared for that time, and we are not prepared now. Radical changes need to be employed as soon as possible to prevent a systemic breakdown. These dire statistics have made me worry for my future.