Extreme DU Hypocrisy Alert: Not Enough Doctors

[BannedFromDU]

Frank Booth  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Mon Apr-27-09 06:38 AM
Original message
Shortage of Doctors Proves Obstacle to Obama Goals
   
Source: NY Times

Obama administration officials, alarmed at doctor shortages, are looking for ways to increase the supply of physicians to meet the needs of an aging population and millions of uninsured people who would gain coverage under legislation championed by the president.

The officials said they were particularly concerned about shortages of primary care providers who are the main source of health care for most Americans.

One proposal — to increase Medicare payments to general practitioners, at the expense of high-paid specialists — has touched off a lobbying fight.

Family doctors and internists are pressing Congress for an increase in their Medicare payments. But medical specialists are lobbying against any change that would cut their reimbursements. Congress, the specialists say, should find additional money to pay for primary care and should not redistribute dollars among doctors — a difficult argument at a time of huge budget deficits.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/health/policy/27care....


Why does everyone have to be so flippin' greedy? I thought these guys got into the profession because they wanted to help people . . .

Boy, is this one juicy

Psychic Consortium  Donating Member  (418 posts)  Mon Apr-27-09 12:55 PM
Response to Original message
21. Maybe it is time to decrease the cost of med school.
   
Edited on Mon Apr-27-09 12:56 PM by Psychic Consortium
Some docs use this as an excuse to become millionaires while children go with out health care and medicine.

Mithreal  (1000+ posts) Mon Apr-27-09 07:17 AM
Response to Original message
3. We must invest in free college and higher training for everyone.
   
Edited on Mon Apr-27-09 07:28 AM by Mithreal
Then we can expect doctors and others to focus more on contributing to society without having to worry about a massive debt at the beginning of a career or how much they are being reimbursed by the government.

     Blah blah blah.

     OK, lurking DUmmies, time for a lesson. The number of doctors is governed by medical schools in concert with THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, which is...wait for it...A LABOR UNION. The AMA regulates how many med students become doctors, and what the licensing criteria are for each subspecialty. If there aren't enough doctors, it's because the LABOR UNION wants to keep wages artificially high for its members. So if the Messiah wants his communist healthcare system, he's going to have to BUST THE UNION.

     (Oh...nurses are unionized, too. Good luck with that one, as well.)

[USA4ME]

Frank Booth

Why does everyone have to be so flippin' greedy? I thought these guys got into the profession because they wanted to help people . . .

Well dolt, there's this little thing called "overhead costs" that don't go away just because you want to help people.  That's why sometimes when you go to a doctor's office they have a sign up that says "Not accepting any new Medicare/Medicaid patients."

Good points, BFDU.  Then there's that little freedom thing where doctors don't have to accept patients who are on Medicare.  Dear Leader forces doctors to accept Medicare patients and, by virtue of that, dictates to them how much they'll get paid, you'll have another mess with which to deal.

.

[JohnnyReb]

Did the slow boat from India break down or something?

[Traveshamockery]

I worked for a family doctor as an independent contractor and she closed up her practice about nine months ago.  She was a solo practitioner yet she had four full-time employees just to keep up with the paperwork and patient care.  Between malpractice insurance and ridiculously low reimbursements from Medicare, she could no longer afford to stay in practice.  She was far from greedy.  She took care of patients who could not pay her.  She worked 12 to 14 hour days. 

Yet dummies expect doctors like her, who have gone to school for years, to just give their services away because people are owed medical care. 

[Chris_]

Whining about medical fees again?  Eliminate those idiotic lawsuits for malpractice from DUmmies looking to get rich off "the man" and we just might see a decrease in those costs.  

[BannedFromDU]

Whining about medical fees again?  Eliminate those idiotic lawsuits for malpractice from DUmmies looking to get rich off "the man" and we just might see a decrease in those costs.  

     Amen. Also introduce a copay for all services substantial enough for people with colds and hangnails to stay the **** home and deal with it themselves.

[Tantal]

     Amen. Also introduce a copay for all services substantial enough for people with colds and hangnails to stay the **** home and deal with it themselves.

This is the best idea yet. My mother-in-law, who's always had no-copay insurance (FIL is union), goes to the doctor every time she gets the sniffles. Me? I have a $300/year deductible, then I pay 20% thereafter. For this reason I have to be near death before I'll go to the doctor......yes, I'm a cheap bastard. Another thing I'm seeing nowadays is that people who used to use the E.R. as their primary care physician are now using.............the FRIGGIN' FIRE DEPARTMENT! Seriously. They get a tummy ache, so they call EMS thinking that maybe there's something that the medics can give them for free. Then, some will demand to be transported by ambulance to the E.R. thinking that they won't have to go through triage if the F.D. brings them in. If this is the kind of abuse that's going on at the street level, I can only imagine the shenanigans that are going on once they're actually in the system.

[BannedFromDU]

This is the best idea yet. My mother-in-law, who's always had no-copay insurance (FIL is union), goes to the doctor every time she gets the sniffles. Me? I have a $300/year deductible, then I pay 20% thereafter. For this reason I have to be near death before I'll go to the doctor......yes, I'm a cheap bastard. Another thing I'm seeing nowadays is that people who used to use the E.R. as their primary care physician are now using.............the FRIGGIN' FIRE DEPARTMENT! Seriously. They get a tummy ache, so they call EMS thinking that maybe there's something that the medics can give them for free. Then, some will demand to be transported by ambulance to the E.R. thinking that they won't have to go through triage if the F.D. brings them in. If this is the kind of abuse that's going on at the street level, I can only imagine the shenanigans that are going on once they're actually in the system.

     I work with a lot of healthcare data at the patient/guarantor level, and you would be disgusted at the treatment codes that result from ER admissions, either by ambulance or by walkins. I've seen ambulance rides and admissions through the ER for treatments that involve an IV drip and an Advil. Simple frickin concept: $100 to walk past the waiting room door, no exceptions except for those under the age of 14.

[Chris_]

     I work with a lot of healthcare data at the patient/guarantor level, and you would be disgusted at the treatment codes that result from ER admissions, either by ambulance or by walkins. I've seen ambulance rides and admissions through the ER for treatments that involve an IV drip and an Advil. Simple frickin concept: $100 to walk past the waiting room door, no exceptions except for those under the age of 14.

...better yet.  "If you aren't bleeding somewhere when you walk in, keep walking".

[Wineslob]

This is the best idea yet. My mother-in-law, who's always had no-copay insurance (FIL is union), goes to the doctor every time she gets the sniffles. Me? I have a $300/year deductible, then I pay 20% thereafter. For this reason I have to be near death before I'll go to the doctor......yes, I'm a cheap bastard. Another thing I'm seeing nowadays is that people who used to use the E.R. as their primary care physician are now using.............the FRIGGIN' FIRE DEPARTMENT! Seriously. They get a tummy ache, so they call EMS thinking that maybe there's something that the medics can give them for free. Then, some will demand to be transported by ambulance to the E.R. thinking that they won't have to go through triage if the F.D. brings them in. If this is the kind of abuse that's going on at the street level, I can only imagine the shenanigans that are going on once they're actually in the system.

It's common practice in our town for people to call an ambulance, for almost anything. Why? Because if you arrive in an ambulance, you get first priority. No waiting in line.

[Tantal]

It's common practice in our town for people to call an ambulance, for almost anything. Why? Because if you arrive in an ambulance, you get first priority. No waiting in line.

Not in my town. Unless there's really something wrong with you (major accident, gunshot wound, stab wound, serious overdose, etc.), you get in line with everybody else. The medics have radio contact with the E.R. to let them know what they're bringing in, so the E.R. can prepare. If Jane stubbed a toe, the Charge Nurse will notify them in advance to dump her in the waiting room and let her go through triage.

[jtyangel]

There heads would have exploded into a big, crazy bouncy to hear one of the locals here talk about why he decided against medical school(after working in the field for many years) in favor of engineering. He specifically used Obama and his tax scheme and nationalized healthcare push as big criteria for why he decided against it. You see, this gentleman would like HIS family to enjoy the fruits of his labor, not some layabout bitching on DU who siphons off 90% of his earnings after 12 years of education. Not to mention, he's not too keen on having his income dictated to him via socialized medicine. I'm sure this bright young man, who has already had a good career in the medical field in another capacity is not the only potential doctor we've lost thanks to the socialist brigade and their greedy little mass of followers. Good going, DU, one doctor less in the pool you are looking to fill.

[jtyangel]

I worked for a family doctor as an independent contractor and she closed up her practice about nine months ago.  She was a solo practitioner yet she had four full-time employees just to keep up with the paperwork and patient care.  Between malpractice insurance and ridiculously low reimbursements from Medicare, she could no longer afford to stay in practice.  She was far from greedy.  She took care of patients who could not pay her.  She worked 12 to 14 hour days. 

Yet dummies expect doctors like her, who have gone to school for years, to just give their services away because people are owed medical care. 

Every notice how they expect no patient responsibility in all of it? Just if someone thinks their sick, by george no matter the reason, they should be able to go to the doctor. I lean with Tantal here. I go only if it is something that seems to be going on for a while or I'm very sick. Even with the very sick, it has to be something kind of elongated. Illnesses for a 30 something year old woman in good health generally pass in a few days. Why would I burden the healthcare system and my own wallet with something that is routine at this age?

I think a lot of groups have contributed to this go if you even have the sniffles crap: the Oprah's of the world working up what is likely passing and minor aches and pains into potentially rare and life-threatening conditions so people are near hypochondriacs, AARP doing the same for older americans, illegals who don't belong in the country to recieve the damn healthcare anyway, 'free' or not, a whole host of uneducated idiots who can't seem to navigate their child through a common cold wihtout freaking out or looking to bypass spending 6 bucks over the counter so they can get some 'freebie' advil at the dr's office for their kid's fever, across the board policies at employers that make dr's notes mandatory for everyone instead of requiring them for employees with problems with abusing time off policies, etc. People can be their own worse enemies in so many ways and advocacy groups seem to enjoy feeding the fire of histeria.

[USA4ME]

Several good points.

Another thing regarding not enough doctors:  There's way too many ways of making $100K/yr that doesn't involve going to school for 8+ years.

.

[Splashdown]

Several good points.

Another thing regarding not enough doctors:  There's way too many ways of making $100K/yr that doesn't involve going to school for 8+ years.

.

And most of those ways don't involve an inordinately high risk of lawsuit--and obscenely high insurance payments--for malpractice if something happens beyond your control.

[AllosaursRus]

I wonder why it is that lawyers outnumber doctors like 3 to 1 even though it cost relatively the same amount of dollars for college?

Hmmmmm, wonder why????

[The Village Idiot]

we are going to have a lot fewer doctors. rationing does that

[BlueStateSaint]

we are going to have a lot fewer doctors. rationing does that

And until enough DUmb****s die from a chronic shortage of doctors, we'll have a tough time changing the system.

[AllosaursRus]

And until enough DUmb****s die from a chronic shortage of doctors, we'll have a tough time changing the system.

Ah, but, I'm sure they are going to ration healthcare so that they, (the eletists and smartest people in the world), will get all of the healthcare they need. It will be we, who are not worthy, that will have to do without or are rationed.

[MrsSmith]

This is the best idea yet. My mother-in-law, who's always had no-copay insurance (FIL is union), goes to the doctor every time she gets the sniffles. Me? I have a $300/year deductible, then I pay 20% thereafter. For this reason I have to be near death before I'll go to the doctor......yes, I'm a cheap bastard. Another thing I'm seeing nowadays is that people who used to use the E.R. as their primary care physician are now using.............the FRIGGIN' FIRE DEPARTMENT! Seriously. They get a tummy ache, so they call EMS thinking that maybe there's something that the medics can give them for free. Then, some will demand to be transported by ambulance to the E.R. thinking that they won't have to go through triage if the F.D. brings them in. If this is the kind of abuse that's going on at the street level, I can only imagine the shenanigans that are going on once they're actually in the system.

Hospitals are finding options to take care of both types of ER abusers...the walk-ins and the ambulance riders.  Many have set up "Fast-track ER," which sounds like they're giving extra care...while actually amounting to a 24 hr doctor's office.  (And many, like mine, have people sign financial plans right up front.    )