Health Care Reform- Dr. Kipp Van Camp, a Practicing Physician, and His View of What is Ailing Us (and the US)

Topeka, KS, December 08, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Maybe you haven’t noticed yet, but the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that the Democratic Congress passed in 2010 is already impacting your health care. “Everyday Americans are feeling the impact of health care reform- and not in a good way,” states Dr. Kipp Van Camp, an Interventional Radiologist and author of Misdiagnosis-A Practicing Physician’s Case Study in Health Care Reform. “Whether health care reform is repealed or not, there are effects of the legislation will be here to stay.”

Will you have a doctor in 5 years? Healthcare for everyone? Is that the case?

· In 2009, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) predicted there would be a shortage of 40,000 primary care physicians over the next 10 years.
· Also in 2009, an “Investor’s Business Daily” poll revealed that 45 percent of doctors would consider early retirement if health care reform passed (The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act- PPACA- passed in 2010).
· The same survey found that 67 percent of practicing physicians believed that fewer students would apply for medical school over the next decade if health care reform passed.

Pushing paperwork vs. caring for patients Navigating the rapidly increasing mandates for coverage is reducing the time physicians are caring for their patients.

· In 1979, there were 252 state mandates in place across the entire country, an average of five requirements per state. By 2009, there were a total of 2133 state mandates, or an average of 42 per state.

Patients are noticing the impact when they are increasingly being treated by nurse practitioners and not physicians- a trend that is not going away.

Tort Reform is needed. Trial lawyers effectively bought themselves veto power when tort reform was omitted from the PPACA. Former Vermont Governor and Democratic Presidential hopeful Howard Dean said medical malpractice caps (tort reform) were not in the PPACA because “the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everybody else they were taking on. And that’s the plain and simple truth.” Tort reform affects everyone because of the unnecessary costs it adds to already costly health care.

· Jackson Health Care estimates that $650 billion of the $2.5 trillion spent on health care per year was spent on unnecessary tests due to physicians practicing defensive medicine.
· Texas recently passed tort reform and the number of physicians applying to practice in the state increased by 57 percent.

As with all aspects of health care, educate yourself and become an advocate for yourself. Learn what you can do to help overturn the PPACA and take back your health care system.

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Dr. Kipp Van Camp is triple boarded in family medicine and radiology and has 25 years experience in medicine. He is also the host of the radio show, “Doctor’s Orders.” Author Misdiagnosis: A practicing physicians case study of health care reform, Dr. Kipp makes the topic of health care accessible to the average American. More information can be found at www.drkipp.com.