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KY Considers Enhancing Physician Recruitment

Medi-Share (http://blog.medi-share.org)

Health care reforms could force Kentucky to strengthen physician recruitment in medically underserved areas to accommodate more than 600,000 additional people in the state who soon will be covered by Medicaid or private insurance. The planned expansion of Kentucky's Medicaid program coupled with a push to help the uninsured obtain health coverage through the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange is expected to exacerbate a longstanding shortage of physicians in many rural communities. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services is considering several proposals to deal with the problem, including bringing more international medical graduates into rural communities and expanding loan-forgiveness programs for doctors who set up practices in underserved areas. Those were among recommendations made by Deloitte Consulting, a firm that's helping to set up the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange.