Doctor Shortage? No Problem

There's a popular story circulating suggesting that America suffers from a shortage of medical care and the doctors who provide it.

The narrative basically goes like this. Many people fail to get care they'd benefit from because of inadequate insurance and a shortage of physicians that is becoming particularly acute for Medicare participants, largely because low reimbursement rates are convincing a significant number of doctors to stop participating in the program. This results in a shortage of timely care that feeds increasingly crowded hospital emergency rooms filled with people who are extremely sick.

This story is totally untrue. It is a dense package of misinformation that not only distorts the political debate, but undermines reform efforts to create a more efficient system. So it's worth deconstructing...