Shortage of health care workers poses challenges for Medicare for All proposals

As Democratic presidential candidates continue to spar over health care, John McDonough, professor of the practice of public health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, was interviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered” about challenges the U.S. health system is facing and whether Medicare for All proposals are feasible given significant shortages of health care workers across the U.S.

“We also have big shortages in terms of long-term care, long-term services and support, especially for a rapidly growing aging population,” McDonough said. “Our nurses, our physicians are getting older, are approaching retirement. About a third of physicians in the United States right now are over age 55.”

Read the NPR article: Harvard Public Health Professor Discusses Medicare For All