brian todd is here, he s been taking a comparison of both of these programs. what are you seeing? wolf, the comparisons are not straightforward. because when you look at the president s plan, much of that vfs projections for the future. so they re unclear. we did look at some things you can measure in massachusetts, including cost to the consumer and the access patients get to doctors. president obama again using massachusetts as the model for his health care law. like under romney care, he contends, many more people will be covered. but a top critic of the president s plan worries about another unfavorable comparison to what happened in massachusetts. about 70% of primary care doctors at the time, before romney care, were accepting new patients. that has dropped down to 50%. and we re going to see the same problem nation-wide as obama care rolls out. that s because doctors get reimbursed less as more patients enroll. an expert who helped craft romney s and obama s plans says t
critic worries about another unfavorable comparison to what happened in massachusetts. about 70% of primary care doctors at the time before romney care were set to new patients. that has dropped down to 50%. we re going to see the same problem nationwide s obama care rolls out. reporter: that s because doctors get reimbursed less as more patients enroll. an expert who krafd romney and obama plans said the doctors crunch isn t unique to romney s plans. the pressures are farther greater than in massachusetts. reporter: he said that obama care will offer incentive to balance that. did the massachusetts plan lower costs for patients? according to government statistics, until roll any s plan, the yearly cost of a premium went up faster than it did in the rest of the condition between 2006 when the plan rolled out and 2012. congressman john fleming predicts this under obama
the bill can improve the quality of the system and already has. for example, the number of hospital acquired infections because hospitals have to improve and focus on them. otherwise, they get their payment decreased. readmission rates before the bill, 20%. we ve already seen them come down to 17 1/2 percent. all of those are true. i m just giving you the facts. these are not factually true at all. the primary care doctors are more disspirited today than i ve ever seen them in history much it s really terrible what s going on out there. and there is some fear not just among doctors. i have heard the same kind of thing and surely you have and perhaps explained it to them in different way but them saying i can t say any more medicare patients. you know, i have doctors say i will keep my guys. my guys i have now. i m not taking any more medicare patients. then what?
for example, the number of hospital acquired infections because hospitals have to improve and focus on them otherwise they get their payment decreased. it s already shown dramatic improvements. similarly, readmission rates. before the bill, 20%. we ve already seen them come down to 17 1/2 percent. all of those are poz. i m just giving you the facts. these are not factually true at all. the primary care doctors are more despirited to day than i ve ever seen them in history much it s really terrible what s going on out there. and there is some fear not just among doctors. i have heard the same kind of thing and surely you have and perhaps explained it to them in different way but them saying i can t say any more medicare patients. you know, i have doctors say i will keep my guys. my guys i have now. i m not taking any more medicare patients. then what? look, that issue of how the
in a surprise move, at least three medical schools are shaving off a full year of their degree programs to get more physicians into the workforce sooner. there s already a shortage of primary care doctors, but as obama care takes effect the majority of the 48 million people without health care coverage right now will suddenly be insured and need doctors. one study predicts a shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians in the next seven years. joining me now is assistant professor of annes thesology and rehabilitation at nyu school of medicine and chair of medicine at newark beth israel medical center, dr. bob mahita. good to see you. . good to see you. we were talking about this in our staff meeting and when you say let s go from four years of training to three, everyone says i don t want that doctor. you say it s a good idea, why