Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Bleeding in the Red
If doctors and surgeons had to rely entirely on Medicare and Medicaid, THEY WOULD GO OUT OF BUSINESS. Between the pathetic reimbursement rates and the regulatory idiocy (the average education level of a Medicare auditor is four years of high school) of these two behemoths, it is becoming increasingly harder and harder to make ends meet, meet a payroll, etc., and if it wasn't for private insurance and money payments to subsidize them, few doctors if any would probably take it. And now with this whole frigging Obamacare, watch out! If I had to make a prediction here, I would say that within the next decade or so, most doctors will either a) become employees (of hospitals, clinics, etc.), b) retire, or c) get the hell out of third party payment altogether....Yep, and all because of you collectivist fools trying to reinvent the damn wheel. Gee, thanks!
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9 comments:
Perhaps US doctors make too much. Based on Purchasing Power Parity, US doctors make about 50% more than doctors in other countries. Let them quit. There will be plenty of others willing to take their place. It is called the free market.
Jerry said: "Perhaps US doctors make too much."
Perhaps.... is there something in place, like a labor union, that ensures that doctors get much more than the worth of their work?
Or is it a free market right now?
Jerry, with all due respect you are treading foolishly close to absurdity.
1) Consider cost of education
2) Consider residency requirements (and lower income) before Doctors even begin practice
3) Consider cost of liability insurance
4) Consider cost of staffing (properly educated staffing hopefully)
5) Consider cost of interest over time on college loans
Frankly Jerry, given the likelihood of what Will is talking about a individual with a modicum of common sense and ability will e better off going into business or even education if attitudes such as you enunciated prevails.
Oh, and consider the cost of Quality. If that is important to you and the progressives.
And it's really hard to compare countries. Yes, U.S. doctors make more then French doctors but the average American makes more than the Average Frenchman in general ($47,000 to $33,000).......And I'm not entirely certain that there would be "plenty of others to replace them". At least from what I can gather, physicians frequently lose money on a Medicaid office visit and only make about a $100 an operation with Medicare.
My prediction is that we're eventually going to have a 2 tier system; crappy Medicaid for the bulk of us and Cadillac cash for the wealthy (unless of course the government makes paying cash illegal - additional fascism).
Your prediction may very well come to pass Will. Just imagine the possibility of going to Cuba for medical preceedures because of the long waiting lists we'll likely face in the USA.
Ironic...
The income comparison is on purchasing power parity, not annual income converted to dollars, or whatever.
The wealthy will always have cadillac cars and cadillac care.
I get the distinction, Jerry. I just think that the analogy would continue to hold; doctors in the U.S having more purchasing power than those in France and the average U.S. citizen having likewise.......And there are in fact provinces in Canada in which it is exceedingly difficult for ANYBODY to pay cash for treatment. Well, unless that is they want to come to the United States.
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