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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is spending an additional $55 million to “bolster” the healthcare workforce, as Obamacare contributes to shortages in the industry.HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last week that her agency will provide over 270 grants “from diversity to dentistry” to address worker shortages in the healthcare industry.The funding includes $45.4 million to support the nursing workforce, $5.2 million of which will go towards “improving nursing diversity.”The grants also provide $2.4 million for training of doctoral-level psychologists to “address the behavioral health needs of vulnerable and underserved populations,” and $3 million to support “preventive medicine residencies.”“These grants cover a wide spectrum of health workforce needs,” said Health Resources and Services Administration administrator Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N. “From diversity to dentistry—all are critical to achieving a skilled workforce now and in the future.”Reports indicate that the Affordable Care Act is already causing doctor shortages, and an administration official admitted to the New York Post that the issue is serious.“There aren’t enough doctors. There aren’t enough nurses,” the official said.Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, said Obamacare has exacerbated the issue.“We faced a huge doctor shortage before the law,” Cannon told the Washington Free Beacon. “Most experts suggest that we will have a shortage in the coming years of at least 150,000 for simply what we need to deal with the aging population. We were going to be short doctors going into this.”“On top of that, the law is designed primarily to increase demand for healthcare,” he said. “The whole idea of it is to get more people insured so that they could get healthcare they’re not getting today.”“So if you have a shortage to begin with and more people go to the doctor than did
The funding includes $45.4 million to support the nursing workforce, $5.2 million of which will go towards “improving nursing diversity.”????????
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced last week that her agency will provide over 270 grants “from diversity to dentistry” to address worker shortages in the healthcare industry.
