Another day. Another story with the all-too-familiar refrain lamenting the impending shortage of physicians in…what is it now…fifteen years? Perhaps even more embarrassing than that statistic are the constant reminders brought forth by articles such as this.

The greatest demand will be for primary-care physicians. These general practitioners, internists, family physicians and pediatricians will have a larger role under the new law, coordinating care for each patient.

Earth-shattering news, I know.

Proponents of the new health-care law say it does attempt to address the physician shortage. The law offers sweeteners to encourage more people to enter medical professions, and a 10% Medicare pay boost for primary-care doctors.

Excuse me if I yawn. As a primary care physician myself I find such articles as nauseatingly irritating as I do mundane. The ivory tower elite healthcare policy wonks and well-meaning lawmkers (and Presidents of the United States, for that matter) constantly barrage us with information we already know. It isn’t the physician shortage that has great policythinkers up in arms, it’s the 300 pound gorilla in the room that is primary care and the feeble attempt by insurers, the federal government, and even some medical schools to throw starry eyed practical medical students the olive branch of concern.

Although primary care did enjoy a nice tidy “bump” in the recent match of new doctors-to-be, the sad reality is that this recognition of the need of primary care is a little too little and a lot too late. As long as tuition rates become more and more like second mortgages for newly-minted medical school graduates; as long as procedures are rewarded (and reimbursed) more than bedside manner; and as long as the growth of medical inflation fosters even more profligate innovation — recognition of primary care as a reasonable career choice for young physicians will continue to be muted and inspire many more articles which will also be saying the same thing…like in 2025.

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