Doctors Brace for Health Law’s Surge of Ailing Patients - Bloomberg

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><a href="http://www.holycrosshealth.org/aspen-hill-location" title="Open Web Site" rel="external" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Holy Cross Hospital's</a> health center in Aspen Hill, <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/maryland/" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Maryland</a>, is bracing for more business.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The center treats the uninsured, and has been busy since it opened in 2012 with a waiting list of more than 400 people at its clinic. Now, as a result of the U.S. Affordable Care Act, it's mulling adding staff and hours in anticipation of next year's rush of newly-insured patients, many with chronic medical conditions that have gone untreated for years.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Poorly controlled diabetes can cause stroke, <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/kidney-failure/" density="sparse" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">kidney failure</a> and blindness. Undiagnosed cancer can translate into complex end-of-life care, and untreated high <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/blood-pressure/" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">blood pressure</a> can lead to heart attacks. In effect, the 2010 <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/the-prognosis-for-obamacare/" title="Open Web Site" rel="external" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">health law</a>'s biggest promise becomes its most formidable challenge: unprecedented access to care for a needy population when the nation is already grappling with overtaxed emergency rooms and a shortage of physicians.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">"When you're getting people that haven't had insurance, they have significant health issues," said Kevin Sexton, president and chief executive officer of Holy Cross Health, in a telephone interview. "A lot of people need these services."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">About 25 million Americans are expected to gain coverage under the health law, commonly known as Obamacare. Starting Oct. 1, as many as 7 million uninsured Americans will begin shopping for private plans through government-run exchanges, with many people eligible to have their premiums subsidized by taxpayers. On Jan. 1, Medicaid programs for low-income people will be expanded in about half the U.S. states.</p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Strained System</h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The increase in newly insured patients arrives at a time when the nation has 15,230 fewer primary-care doctors than it needs, according to an Aug. 28 assessment by the <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/u.s.-department-of-health/" density="sparse" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">U.S. Department of Health</a> and Human Services. And emergency rooms report being strained with visits that have risen at twice the rate of <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/population-growth/" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">population growth</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">"It's like we're handing out bus tickets and the bus is already full," said Perry Pugno, vice president for medical education at the <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/0678068D:US" class="web_ticker" title="Get Quote" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">American Academy of Family Physicians</a>, by telephone. "The shortfall of primary-care access is not an insignificant problem, and it's going to get worse."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Almost half of all uninsured, non-elderly adults had a chronic condition, based on a 2005 <a href="http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411161_uninsured_americans.pdf" title="Open Web Site" rel="external" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">report</a> by the <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/urban-institute/" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Urban Institute</a> and the <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/university-of-maryland/" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">University of Maryland</a>. One in six with hypertension reported no visits to health professionals in a year.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Most who come to Holy Cross's health center now lack insurance, and have lived for years with serious ailments, according to Elise Riley, the center's medical director. "It's frustrating to see diseases that could have been prevented," she said in an interview in her office.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">More demand may lead to months-long waits to see doctors, delays in finding specialists, and strains on hospitals and outpatient clinics, others said.</p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Patient Access</h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Ensuring patient access is critical to the Affordable Care Act's success: if the newly insured swamp the medical system, it could hand critics pushing to derail the law another argument to fray public support. Sara Rosenbaum, a health-law professor at George <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/washington/" density="sparse" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Washington</a> University in Washington, said she doesn't believe it's going to happen.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">"It's going to be a slow ramp up," Rosenbaum said in a telephone interview. "It's not like seven million people will get insurance at once. They're not going to all come racing in the door."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">While that number of new patients can be debated, the status of those who do come in the door is not.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Patients who have had gaps in health insurance were more likely to have not gone to a doctor when sick or to have skipped getting prescriptions, according to an April 2013 report by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based foundation that works for health-care access. The uninsured were less likely to be up-to-date on recommended cholesterol, blood pressure, colon cancer screenings and mammograms.</p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Massachusetts Overhaul</h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Massachusetts pioneered health reform in 2006 when it enacted near universal coverage under then governor <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/mitt-romney/" density="sparse" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Mitt Romney</a>. Community health centers and hospitals that care for a larger share of lower-income residents saw a 12 percent jump in patient volume from 2009 to 2010, with almost 100,000 more visits to safety net hospitals during that time, according to a 2012 <a href="http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/8311.pdf" title="Open Web Site" rel="external" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">report</a> by the <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/kaiser-family-foundation/" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Kaiser Family Foundation</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">David Longworth, chairman of the Medicine Institute at <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/ohio/" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Ohio</a>'s <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/cleveland-clinic/" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Cleveland Clinic</a>, was working in Massachusetts when the state passed near universal health coverage.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">"Practices closed and patients would wait for eight to nine months to get in," Longworth said by telephone. "We overwhelmed the primary care health system."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">In cities such as Lawrence, Massachusetts, a former textile city that has long been home to a large immigrant community, doctors have coped with rising volume.</p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Patient Surplus</h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The <a href="http://lawrencefmr.org/site/" title="Open Web Site" rel="external" density="full" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Lawrence Family Medicine Residency</a>, which provides primary care and other medical services to a largely low-income patient population, saw an uptick in patients, said Joseph Gravel, chief medical officer and residency program director.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">"When you look at the experience in <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/massachusetts/" density="sparse" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Massachusetts</a>, it's going to be bumpy" when Obamacare rolls out, Gravel said in a telephone interview.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The percentage of family doctors in the state accepting new patients has dropped 19 percent in the past seven years and the percentage of internists accepting new patients has fallen 21 percent over nine years, according to a July report by the Massachusetts Medical Society, an advocacy group for patients and physicians. Only about half of family doctors were accepting new patients this year.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">The Cleveland Clinic predicts as many as 90,000 new patients in northeast Ohio if everyone signs up for coverage. The health system is working to ramp up its primary care practices in anticipation.</p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Exciting Challenge</h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">At Grady Health System in Atlanta, more patients are expected, especially at its six outpatient centers. San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center in <a href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/california/" density="sparse" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-decoration: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">California</a> has some expanded hours its 19 primary care centers. The centers are located in the hospital and out in the community.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">"We anticipate an increase in primary care and specialty," Chief Executive Officer Sue Currin said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">On a recent Friday morning at the Holy Cross clinic in Aspen Hill, Riley donned a white coat and prepared to see patients. While there may be more patients under reform, Riley said an increase in business will be welcome.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 17px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 1.6em; font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto; ">"I've very excited," Riley said. "I've been dealing with uninsured patients for a long time. If they get coverage, we can prevent a lot of problems."</p></div><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-09-23/doctors-brace-for-health-law-s-surge-of-ailing-patients.html">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-09-23/doctors-brace-for-health-law-s-surge-of-ailing-patients.html</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Doctors Brace for Health Law’s Surge of Ailing Patients - Bloomberg

Holy Cross Hospital's health center in Aspen Hill, Maryland, is bracing for more business.The center treats the uninsured, and has been busy since it opened in 2012 with a waiting list of more than 400 people at its clinic. Now, as a result of the U.…

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