Report says U.S. faces serious shortage of primary-care professionals.

The United States faces a serious shortage of family physicians, especially in rural and poorer communities," according to a report released on Monday by the National Association of Community Health Centers. The group noted that "[t]here are too few primary-care doctors and nurses to meet growing healthcare needs," and "availability depends on location." The data showed that "56 million Americans do not have a regular source of healthcare due to shortages of physicians in their communities," although many of these people have health insurance. In fact, some healthcare experts say that "even if universal healthcare comes into play tomorrow, not everyone would have access to a healthcare provider." The report's authors "estimate that in order to provide services to these medically disenfranchised Americans, as well as current patients, health centers will need up to 60,000 more primary-care professionals, and up to 44,500 additional nurses."