Healthcare law ripples to the north

Massachusetts' two-year-old healthcare law requiring near-universal health insurance for its citizens has drawn renewed attention around the country as a model for a national program. Now the prospect of expanded demand for medical care is causing concern in Canada, according to the National Post.

Like the United States, Canada is experiencing a shortage of primary care physicians, the paper says. President-elect Barack Obama's plan to enroll 45 million Americans in new health insurance programs would drive up the demand for doctors to treat them, a gap it may try to fill by recruiting beyond its borders. Canadian physicians are already being pulled south by salaries that are higher in the United States.

Canadians are pointing to doctor shortages in Massachusetts after its insurance mandate took effect. Brian Rosman, research director for the Boston-based advocacy group Health Care for All, told the National Post the biggest crunch will be for family doctors, pediatricians, or internal-medicine specialists.

"That's something that could definitely impact on our resources," said Dr. Sarah Kredentser, president of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. "We need all the family doctors that we train here to stay here. Anything that jeopardizes that would be worrisome."