Slate: If Doctors Boycott Obamacare, Squeeze Their Pay

Truth Revolt ^ | 11/21/2013 | Bradford Thomas

[markomalley]

The reality of the insatiable liberal desire for control and need to punish those who refuse to play the statist game is on full display in a recent Slate class-envy piece, “Doctors Fire Up the Obamacare Waaambulance,” by Matthew Yglesias.

Fully acknowledging the reality that doctors will be paid (far) less under Obamacare and, thus, will reject the system in droves, Yglesias tries to assuage his liberal readers’ fears by presenting the perfect punishment for the miserly, self-serving M.D. class: Use the Obamacare leviathan and regulations to “reduce doctors’ payment rates elsewhere in the system.” Here’s the key passage:

Medical doctors are highly paid professionals. They earn more money—a lot more money—than your average American. What's more, American doctors get paid more than doctors in any other country. Given how much of health care is financed either directly (Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs, public-sector workers) or indirectly (tax subsidy for employer-provided insurance) by the federal government, it's natural to make restraining doctors' income part of any program for making health care more affordable. So when you read stories about doctors whining that Affordable Care Act exchange plans don't pay them enough, please throw up a little in your mouth and proceed to ignore the doctors' complaints. The only practical reason to worry about low compensation for doctors in the ACA exchanges is it may cause them to boycott exchange patients. If that happens, the solution is to reduce doctors' payment rates elsewhere in the system. If we ever reach the point where American doctors have been squeezed so badly that they start fleeing north of the border to get higher pay in Canada, then we've squeezed too hard. Until that happens, forget about it.

One positive about the destructive rollout of Obamacare: It's giving America a hard look at the rank underbelly of the radical left. 

[Nifster]

sounds like slavery to me

[Irenic]

Where do I sign?

[Mike Darancette]

The fools don’t understand; the insurance companies are dropping providers from their networks.

[popdonnelly]

Who cares what Slate thinks? Left wing crap.

[SampleMan]

I would like to squeeze the author of that Marxist tripe.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Accurately predicted by Tucker Carlson on last night’s Fox Panel.

If they are going to keep trying to make Obamacare work, they are going to have to ensure that insurance companies make a profit (even if that means throwing massive taxpayer subsidies at them).

And since the Government is not going to give in this equation, the only place left to get the money is by going after the Doctors. He predicted that the media would soon be filled with charges that they are EEEEEVIL and GRRRREEEDY and make too much money.

Sure did not take long.

[longtermmemmory]

Obamacare is just health insurance without medical care.

It is a union make jobs project.

taxes = Government obamacare workers = union dues = political contributions.

IOW taxes into politicians’ pockets.

people are losing 20% of their income to health insurance premiums mandated by law. YET congressional staffers had a hissy fit when they had to be treated the same as other workers. (staffers not elected officials)

[arthurus]

Medical R&D is probably going to shrink severely no matter what. The American market is the only reason that Medical R&D is done at all in the world. Nowhere else in the world are citizens allowed to pay patent prices for new medicines. R&D costs must be recouped from the American market. No matter how the Medical professionals get around American socialized medicine, the market in the USA for new patented medicines will shrink drastically. R&D will slow or cease.THAT INCLUDES ANTIBIOTICS. New miracle drugs can be lived without. We have not become used to their existence. Antibiotics, on the other hand, must be replaced continually with new antibiotics as the pathogens develop immunity to current drugs. Once the American Medical market is socialized, and it probably has irretrievably crossed the threshold, the development of new antibiotics will cease. In 10-20 more years we will be medically approaching 1910- you get sick you die.

[longtermmemmory]

How about mandating reporters make their meetings with politicians public record?

[jaydee770]

As for going underground, at some point we just might end up with new veterinarians who were former “People” docs practicing on a greatly increased pet population.

“Yeah Doc, my um... ‘Dog’ (wink-wink) has had a persistent cough, sinus infection and chest congestion for the past couple of weeks. Do you think we could get Rover (wink-wink) a course of antibiotics?”

[Texas Songwriter]

They are consistent. "If the power of persuasion fails, we will not fail to use the persuasion of power."

The idiot who wrote this tripe has no idea what we do, what risks we take, what time restraints are placed on those who are on call 24 hours per day, what it means to make a payroll. This is the same thing as slavery imposed upon those who Bradford Thomas thinks should conduct their business only the way he wants them to conduct their business.

It is time for Mr. Thomas to consider if he wants to go to a physician who is barely making ends meet to make a decision as to wether or not to recommend an invasive surgery based on his impressions. The Dr. is hungry. He needs a case to raise money, and symptoms may indicate Mr. Thomas mighty benefit from having his gallbladder out, or the physician might (or might not) feel a hernia…Perhaps Mr. Thomas will want an underpaid physician to make marginal decisions, not on a complete workup, but his impressions. Perhaps Mr. Thomas will prefer a colonoscopy done by a general practitioner who is not trained in techniques to prevent perforation of the colon. Or , lets have the GP's do the appendectomies. Anyone can take out an appendix. Right? Wrong! An appendectomy is easy, unless it is perforated or if it is retrocecal or if it located abberently beneath the liver. Surgeons get paid to be able to deal with whatever problems are encountered in the belly. But lets have them train 5 or 6 years beyond medical school and pay them like we would a writer of Salon.

These people have no clue what hell they have released upon the public. The pain, suffering, morbidity, and death Obamacare will release will become the price of the government doing business.

Think about it. The US had the best medical health care delivery system in the world. The socialist countries validated this view, in view of the fact that their leaders came to the US for their heart surgery. They knew their health care system was inferior. Now, in the wisdom of Obama, we destroy, by fiat, the best health care system we opt for that which is inferior. This is insanity. But it is here. I only hope the oligarch gets a good taste of what they have wrought.

[hal ogen]

Ultimately, the government has the docs by the ba**s. If the docs don’t follow the dictates of the Medical Board, they could have their license to practice severely limited or yanked. Because their rulings fall under administrative law, the accused has essentially has no chance. I could see Medical Boards say that docs have to see a certain percentage of their patients as medicaid or medicare or...? That said, I hope this collapses sooner than later. Apparently, there are many who need to suffer in order to POSSIBLY see the light and stop elected these marxist LIB/DIM a-holes. Tighten your seat belts...this is going to be o0ne heck of a ride.

[Adder]

That’s an idea...they we’ll all have pet names...” Yeah doc, Spot is having some sinus problems...”

I’m claiming JoJo....just ‘cause.

[Ronin]

This is starting to look like the plot of a book, a quite good one, during the 1970s. Blade Runner by Alan E. Nourse.

[Billthedrill]

What we need is a common-sense law that will prevent this from happening. Something like this:

All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail.

Problem solved. The full text of Directive 10-289 may be found HERE

It's your future, Comrades. Embrace the change.

[timestax]

[kcvl]

Matthew Yglesias - the sweaty one

[timestax]

bump

[timestax]