Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I am pleased to be joined by Senator Blunt in the introduction of the Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, by 2020, there will be a shortage of 91,000 physicians. Approximately half of the shortage, 45,000, will be in primary care. Individuals and families living in underserved areas, urban and rural, will continue to be those most disadvantaged by this shortage. According to the Pew Research Center, roughly 10,000 baby boomers will become eligible for Medicare every day through 2030. The most recent estimates from the Congressional Budget Office predict that 27 million individuals will gain access to health insurance by 2017 as a result of the Affordable Care Act. With an aging population and increasing number of individuals with health insurance, the gap between patients and providers is expected to widen. The Affordable Care Act took steps to address this shortage, but we can do more. The Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act would authorize programs that would grow the overall number of health care providers, as well as encourage providers to pursue careers in geographic and practice areas of highest need. Building on the success of the National Health Service Corp, NHSC, Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs, and State Loan Repayment Program, this legislation would establish a state scholarship program.…”