Posted on 03/08/2013 7:58:04 AM PST by SeekAndFind
“I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV. Mostly in Obamacare commercials on the steps of the White Hut”.
I remember the fellow travelers were very proud of the “barefoot doctors” in China and Cuba back in the Cold War days, and liked to compare their raw numbers to American doctors for propaganda purposes. The same bunch is obviously still at it.
Oh, indeed. Check out a Rush TV clip from 1995 for proof. Click Here
Basically “same song, different jukebox,” although Bronco Bama makes even the Clintons look like amateurs although if there is a rift, I would not take the “Arkansas Mafia” lightly.
Hey, we have politicians running the country with no job experience or qualifications. If they can run a whole country, why can’t non doctors deal with a few paltry open heart surgeries
>>>The fees charged are key to the story. If optometrists and nurse practitioners can get states to see them on a par with MDs, they can charge fees on a par with MDs, and they can expand their practices to take on revenue-generating services that most states do not currently allow them to perform.
Bingo. Medical Doctors have been a coddle, protected vocation ever since the “Flexner Report” of 1910, which shut down many private medical schools around the country and permitted only “government approved” ones to remain open, thus limiting the supply of doctors, driving up fees, and using government to forcibly limit the kinds of choices patients would like to have regarding their own health. Doctors are simply unhappy that non-MD healthcare providers are starting to muscle in on their income.
Obviously, if a healthcare provider is not an MD but claims to be so, then he is committing fraud and should be punished for it. But I don’t think that’s what concerns the author of this article and his surgeon friend. It’s obvious to me — especially after having studied the views of Milton Friedman on this issue closely — that they are unhappy about the lack of government *protection* of their market share.
bump
Sorta’ on topic. My dog had an eye injury. The regular vet treated her but she didn’t get any better. So, after charging me $150 she sent me to a dog opthalmologist. I did’t know they existed either. He charged me $165 and reccommended a procedure where he scratches the cornea with a needle to get the cells to start growing to promote healing of the injury. The charge was $1,385. I told him I’d get a second oppinion. He didn’t like that. We took the dog to see another dog opthalmologist who is the opthalmologist on call for Texas A&M. She did the same procedure for $100 and the dog’s eye healed.
So, the first vet simply took my money. The second tried to rip me off. I finally found an honest and capable vet but I still spent $315 on quacks and crooks.
This is on dogs. Can you imagine what people will be going through?
Am in training currently to be an NP. I don’t purport to be a physician, and I don’t ever want to be one. But many NP’s are in practice now and doing a fine job ...they are in arrangements where they consult on the hard cases with an on-site a physician, depending on the state regulations. The ones I’ve trained with have huge patient loads.
NP’s really can treat the everyday stuff — ear infections, colds, sore throats, etc. They function as physician extenders ....but ALL of them charge the SAME rate as a physician under “incident to” billing — the doc gets paid, and then doles out payment to the NP as his employee. In all honesty, this is charging society the same amount of money for care given by people with very different qualifications.
Perhaps if they just did away with all supervision of NP’s and just allowed NP’s to charge at their own rates, a true free market situation could evolve. You want to see a doc? You pay for it ....you feel an NP could handle it ...enjoy the lesser costs.
Not all NP’s are equal, and neither are all docs. With anything else, you do your research and go with whom best meets your individual needs. But, I’m sure Obamacare will take all of that great choice away and we’ll just be left with whomever is still standing.
You obviously knows NOTHING about optometrists, as shown in your lack of knowledge in the inaccuracies stated. Let me clear up a few things for you. Optometry school and medical school are BOTH 4 years after college. The difference? Optometry school teaches about eyes and ocular disease the whole time. Medical school teaches about the body and you are NOT an eye specialist when you graduate. Optometry school includes 3 years of class, and medical school only includes 2 years of classes. So who are better primary eyecare specialists? Optometrists. Who are trained to be eye surgeons? Ophthalmologists after completing surgical residencies. Optometrists ARE trained to perform minor surgical procedures. Not over a couple of weeks or months, but YEARS in optometry school. We are trained in lasers, injections, and many superficial surgical techniques. We would never consider undertaking major intraocular surgery. You are very misinformed on the training of your eye doctors, apparently. Optometrists are trained physicians too, certified to do injections (nurses do injections) and trained in laser procedures. Medicare classifies us as physicians and reimburses us accordingly. Hope this helps to make up for your ignorance.
Don’t know who this “you” you are referring to is in your post. But if it’s to me, then you’re obviously talking to the wrong person.
I only post the article, your argument is with the author.
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