While the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) political opponents may be able to take advantage of temporary complications, original talking points regarding the potential for the legislation to harm job growth seems to be a non-starter. In addition to the White House reporting via its own blog that the ACA is helping job growth, recruiters and hiring analysts agree that it will help create jobs in and outside of healthcare. This is good news for medical assistant schools in NJ, certified nurse aide training institutions and other healthcare training schools and programs throughout New Jersey and the country.
Key industry analysts cite the fact that providing healthcare to a potential 30 million Americans can only expand the need for more physician services with some estimates forecasting as much as a three percent increase just in the near term. While the current short supply of doctors and nurses coupled with the length of time it takes to bring them to the workforce is a challenge that may be exacerbated by the ACA, the legislation also provides a number of countermeasures that will lessen the challenge.
Today, certified nurse aides, medical assistants, physician assistants (PA) and nurse practitioners can perform many of the services of physicians at lower costs. While on the one hand the ACA accelerates the 30 percent growth in available jobs for PAs by 2020 as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it also embodies some serious countermeasures that will stimulate the ability to fill those positions.
This will have a positive impact on students currently enrolled in certified nurse aid training programs. In addition, current and future enrollees in a variety of healthcare training programs and medical assistant schools in NJ will find greater employment opportunities and infrastructure available upon graduation.
A recent online article in Advance Healthcare Network for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants provided some insights into the ACA’s impact on healthcare jobs now and in the future. According to the article, Title V of the ACA includes more than 40 provisions to support and increase the healthcare workforce. Two billion in funding provided by Title V will creating more than a thousand PA training and residency slots as well as create state-run programs for primary care workforce expansion of as much as 25 percent.
The Advanceweb.com article goes on to state that the ACA allocates $11 billion in funding for Community Health Centers (CHC) through 2015, with the goal of doubling the number of patients these facilities are able to serve to 40 million. The reform law also provides $200 million over four years to improve and expand school-based health centers. The target of the funding is children with acute and chronic conditions and the goal is to double the number of children that these centers can treat while also creating the needed jobs for healthcare works at all levels to meet the need.
These Federally qualified CHCs as well as the school-based health centers will be highly desired employment opportunities for graduates in a variety of programs for medical assistant schools in NJ as well as graduates of certified nurse aid training programs in the State as well as around the country. Ultimately, the ACA will have wide-ranging positive impact on employment both in and outside of healthcare for years to come while helping create a more sustainable and equitable healthcare system for all.