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As a physician in Portland, I’m pleased to see the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) becoming law. Expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies, allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and capping annual prescription drug costs for seniors have long been priorities for physician and patient advocacy groups.
However, I am disappointed that the physician workforce shortage was not addressed. Attending medical school and now working as a young physician during the COVID-19 pandemic, I have directly observed the labor shortages, frequently changing policies and stress the pandemic has placed on hospitals, all which have negatively impacted the well being of healthcare staff nationwide. This, along with the estimates of a shortage of 17,800 to 48,000 primary care physicians by 2034, leaves the future of healthcare in jeopardy.
The IRA was the most recent missed opportunity to fund programs that would increase the number of physicians caring for our most vulnerable populations. We can’t miss another.
Two solutions with bipartisan support are the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act and the Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act. The former creates 14,000 new residency spots with emphasis on primary care and other specialties facing shortages. The latter would defer the interest on already monumental medical students’ loans while in residency, decreasing their financial stress while also making the pursuit of the medical profession more obtainable for historically excluded racial and ethnic groups.
While we celebrate the healthcare policies that were passed through the IRA, we cannot forget the other policies desperately needed to improve healthcare in America.
Evan Devanny
Saco