Letters: State must reward doctors who stay in Pa.

Tuesday's editorial "The doctor is back in" is right on the mark. Despite the encouraging increase in the number of doctors practicing in Pennsylvania, we are still left with the challenging reality that our existing doctors are getting older and planning to retire within the next 10 years.

According to a study by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 41 percent of practicing doctors in Pennsylvania plan to retire in the next 10 years, and more than half of that 41 percent plan to retire in the next five years. Moreover, only 7.7 percent of doctors providing direct patient care in Pennsylvania are under the age of 34, while 48 percent of doctors engaged in direct patient care are 50 or older. It's like having a veteran baseball team with no farm system.

Providing incentives for doctors to practice in Pennsylvania is vital to the health-care system in our commonwealth. I sponsored legislation that passed in the House in 2007 and again in 2009 to establish a loan-forgiveness program for primary-care doctors and OB/GYNs who agree to practice in Pennsylvania for at least a decade. Even though this bill has twice passed the Pennsylvania House with a large bipartisan majority, it has yet to be acted on by the Senate. This important legislation has been languishing in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee since July 2009.

The time to fend off the emerging crisis is now.

State Rep. Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery)

Abington