The case for changing how doctors work

Starting Tuesday, people will be able to buy health insurance on exchanges run by the government. Under the new law, another twenty-five million people are expected to have health insurance by 2016—and that means more patients coming through the doors of practices like mine. There has to be a better way to care for them. Already, the U.S. faces an impending shortage of primary-care providers. Older physicians are retiring and fewer medical students are choosing primary care, even as Baby Boomers reach retirement age and need more health care. So why not give doctors more help in providing primary care by easing the laws that restrict what non-doctors can do?