How does a national health care system effect physical therapy-sports medicine's career and yearly salary?

Question

How does a national health care system effect physical therapy-sports medicine's career and yearly salary?

Answer 1

You can look at it from two ways.  

First, that people who wouldn't otherwise have access to physica therapy will have a means of getting it.

Second, if health care is offered as a national program, there will probably be regualtions and waiting lists for those to have it.  Furthermore, elective procedures will be much less frequently done.  Take for instance our current system of public aid (even though it is offered on a state level).  A patient on the public aid system may be told that they need a joint replacement surgery...but they have to go on a waiting list to have it.  Two years later, they may get approved to have it wheas someone who has a private insurance will usually be given that option right away.  It will still be seen as an elective procedure, no matter how debilitated the person is (and beleive me, I've seen plenty of people debilitated by OA or RA who are denied the care that someone on a private insurance would get right away).  Therefore, PTs will be seeing few patients for elective post operative procedures.  On the other hand, these people might be readily referred to PT...the "cheaper" option.  It will force PTs to work with more debilitated conditions, but be more effective in delivering care.  

Ultimately, I feel this will drive down a PTs salary because the federal government will probably seek to impose caps and regulations on who gets PT and for how long (in fact, it happened with Medicare reform).