Two years before the Affordable Care Act became law and three years before its full implementation, a cadre of concerned professionals was already asking an important question: Who will take care of all these new patients?
Experts estimate that the additions of new workers to insurance rolls under the Affordable Care Act, increasing the need for health care specialists in everything from medical billing to medical sonography.
“In general, when people have health insurance, they demand more health care,” said Joanne Spetz, who teaches in the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco.
Which is why the job openings will include much more than just doctors, she said, but also nurse practitioners, lab techs and medical assistants.