Report: ACA may cause ’modest’ rise in demand for services

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) might not lead to sharp increases in demand for physician and hospital services. In a report released earlier this month, Commonwealth Fund researchers predicted that primary care providers will see, on average, 1.3 additional office visits per week, accounting for a 3.8% increase in visits nationally. Hospital outpatient departments will see 1.2 to 11 additional visits per week on average, or an increase of about 2.6% nationally. Use by inpatients will also increase, with a 4% increase predicted in the West, 3.4% in the South and 2% in the Northeast, according to the report. “Increases of the magnitude likely to be generated by the [ACA] will have modest effects on the demand for health services, and the existing supply of providers should be sufficient to accommodate this increased demand,” the report states.

Source The Commonwealth Fund