Looming shortage of physicians could cost 7,000 American lives a year: report

NEW YORK - The United States could face a deficit of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034, which could cost as many as 7,000 lives a year, reported The News-Press, a daily newspaper serving southwest Florida, on Tuesday.

"This looming doctor shortage is in part the product of an aging workforce. Two in five doctors practicing today will reach retirement age in the next 10 years," the report cited the Association of American Medical Colleges.

City dwellers and high-income patients might not feel the impact of the shortage, but the story is different in rural America - more than 130 hospitals in rural areas have closed since 2010 and over 4,200 rural communities are experiencing a shortage of health workers.

"Zip codes with disproportionate shares of racial and ethnic minorities also tend to lack adequate access to doctors," said the report. "Black and Latino Americans are roughly twice as likely as their white peers to live in areas with few or no primary care providers."

Meanwhile, more than half of US counties don't have a practicing psychiatrist. As of last year, about 122 million Americans, over a third of the population, lived in areas with shortages of mental health professionals, according to the report.