The Biden administration recently announced that it will end the COVID-associated national and public health emergencies on May 11. That means stopping payments for COVID-19 tests and vaccines for some Americans depending on their insurance status, other people losing benefits such as Medicaid, and some hospitals receiving less funding — placing higher burdens on our already depleted health care workforce.
The pandemic has exacerbated many chronic challenges for the U.S. health system, including the shortage, burnout and inequitable distribution of health care workers. More than 230,000 health care providers left the profession in the first two years of the pandemic alone.
America is an aging country, which stands to make the problem worse. Our need for health care rises drastically as we age, and the needs of our aging population have increased at a much faster pace than the supply of health care workers. As a result, the U.S. faces a projected shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians within the next 11 years. We are already experiencing a punishing shortage of providers that has led to reduced access to care and longer wait times for appointments.
