States' efforts to ease physician shortages

KFF Health News reports that to address a looming shortage of physicians, some states have made it easier for physicians trained in other countries to practice in the US. The previous requirements seem wasteful: "Until recently, every state required physicians who completed a residency or similar training abroad to repeat the process in the U.S. before obtaining a full medical license." The article reports that "at least nine states have dropped this requirement for some doctors with international training" with over "a dozen other states are considering similar legislation." Nevertheless, foreign-trained doctors sill need to "pass the standard three-part exam that all physicians take to become licensed in the U.S."

Some supporters see this relaxing of requirements as a way of addressing physician shortages, particularly in certain areas, since a number of laws "require the [foreign-trained] doctors to work for several years in a rural or underserved area." Requirements such as those can benefit some rural hospitals that experience difficulties when trying to hire qualified physicians.

Some opponents seem to believe that the way to address the physician shortage is to instead better compensate physicians and to accelerate training "for nurse practitioners and physician assistants who want to become doctors." In a landscape in which health insurance premiums have generally outpaced inflation for decades and where many are uninsured due to the cost of health insurance, simply raising physician compensation seems to be an difficult solution. Other solutions, such as the suggested expansion of loan repayments, might help.