More physicians, nurses needed as Medicare turns 50

Editor's Note

More physicians and nurses are needed as Medicare and Medicaid reach their 50^th anniversary, Healthcare Finance News reports.

Medicare and Medicaid paid $15 billion toward residency training programs in 2012, and the Association of American Medical Colleges has predicted a shortage of between 46,000 and 90,000 physicians by 2025.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) has projected more openings for RNs than any other job in the US through 2022, at more than 100,000 per year. The ANA wants Congress to increase funding for nursing training programs via the Nurse Training Act of 1964, which was passed before Medicare. Funding has declined by about 2% over the last 4 years.

As the programs turn 50, Medicare and Medicaid's long role in funding medical education is finding itself stretched thin by looming nursing and physician shortages.