Health Care Access, Quality of Care, Accountability Are Concerns for Top Jacksonville Urologist

July 6, 2012 - PRLog -- JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the health care law has reignited a strenuous debate. Last week’s 5-4 ruling will be a hot topic on The Conversation, hosted by Jacksonville urologist Dr. Ali Kasraeian and Chef Robert Tulko, airing Saturday at 6 p.m. on WOKV (106.5 FM, 690 AM).

Congressional candidate Ron DeSantis, who has recently received a series of endorsements in his bid for the GOP nomination in Florida’s open 6th District will be a guest.

“Access is going to be a problem,” said Dr. Kasraeian. “We are going to be adding 32 million new patients to a system that is already taxed without an infrastructure to handle this new influx of patients.”

Appearing last Friday on The Morning Show on WJXT-TV in Jacksonville Dr. Kasraeian expressed concerns over an impending shortage of doctors, inadequate infrastructure and personal accountability.

According to Dr. Kasraeian the nation is currently suffering from a doctor shortage that is predicted to increase to greater than 91,000 doctors by 2020, a shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians and 46,000 surgeons and specialists. He’s also concerned about the addition of 16 million Medicaid patients.  

“Currently, less that 50 percent of doctors actually take Medicaid due to poor reimbursement and channels to get studies and procedures approved.  There are no agreed upon plans or infrastructure in place to deal with these issues,” he said.

The question of who is going to pay for all this will also be examined during The Conversation.

“With a lack of infrastructure and impending shortage of doctors we have to be very careful and very cognizant of the very real possibility that quality may be adversely affected,” said Dr. Kasraeian. “In order for success, people have to start taking accountability for their own health and their contribution to their own health issues and in turn our nation's health care costs.”

According to Dr. Kasraeian10 percent of U.S.  health care dollars are spent from the ramification of obesity with predictions for that to increase to 20 percent.  Currently greater than 30 percent of Americans are obese with predictions for that to increase to greater than 40 percent.  The worldwide obesity rate is approximately 14 percent.  

“People have to take accountability for their own health if preventative health care is going to work,” he said.

Listen to The Conversation tomorrow 6-7 p.m. on WOKV (106.5 FM, 690 AM) for more insight and analysis on the law, passed by Congress in March 2010, to put in motion the creation of a nationwide insurance system to reduce the number of Americans without coverage.

Visit www.theconversationjax.com for more information