One often ignored side-effect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as “Obama Care,” is that it will potentially create thousands of new jobs in the healthcare and supporting fields. The reason for this is actually quite simple: millions of new people will suddenly have health insurance, and thus they will be more likely to seek medical attention for illness and problems that they previously would have ignored or simply waited out.
Beyond the obvious need for new doctors, surgeons, and nurses; there will also be a need for nurses aids, lab technicians and assistants, medical assistants, and medical billing specialists just to name a few. Joanne Spetz of the CFHP at U.C. San Francisco said, in regards to the potential new job openings; “In general, when people have health insurance, they demand more health care.”
This is a common discussion among healthcare professionals, and in particular those professionals who oversee large medical and healthcare organizations. Robert Wise of the NJHCWC agreed with Spetz, saying that a lot of the professional medical worker positions that currently exist will see large volumes of growth over the next ten to fifteen years.
Beyond healthcare and the related fields, many experts are also expecting to see a drastic rise in the number of data and technology workers required as well. This is because many new federal regulations require the digitization and electronic transmission and storage of documents used to diagnose patient history, and the current digital infrastructure for these requirements simply doesn’t exist yet. Wise goes on to say, of the shortage of information workers due to the number of jobs required to fill all of the openings created by new federal mandate.
One reason that New Jersey is particularly well prepared for the oncoming need of medical professionals is the vast number of educational organizations between [P.A. & NYC]. With all of these institutions, along with the recently developed NNJHPC which received a twenty-four million dollar grant from the Federal Government of the United States of America by way of funds appropriated by congressional order under the PPAACA & HCERA, New Jersey is ready to meet and fulfill the demands of the new healthcare worker wave.
Spetz also said that she believes most states will find themselves looking for freshly-minted M.D.s due to regular testing that will be required under the new act. Finally, Wise predicts that nurses, nurse practitioners, care that is given within one’s own house, and healthcare aids will be necessary in the new healthcare landscape, especially if new legislation moves forward to remove required physician oversights.