Docs Flee Jersey (Wouldn't You?)

American Thinker ^ | 09/27/2013 | J. Robert Smith

[SeekAndFind]

Via the Drudge Report, we learn that medical docs are fleeing Blue State Jersey faster than "Old Blue Eyes" skedaddled out of Hoboken.

This from MY9NJ.com:

According to Deborah Briggs, the President and CEO of the Council of Teaching Hospitals, New Jersey loses nearly 70% of the doctors it educates to other states. This is well below the national average of a 48% retention rate.

Pray tell, why on earth would any doc want to pull up stakes and leave the bucolic Garden State?  Here's why, again according MY9NJ.com:

The top five reasons for physicians leaving are:

• Better salary offered outside of New Jersey
• Cost of living in New Jersey
• Better job/practice opportunities in desired locations outside of New Jersey
• Taxes in New Jersey
• Affordable Housing

Oh, and add malpractice insurance costs, which docs say make starting a practice in Jersey a deal-buster.

So, that's six reasons.  I'm sure Letterman could come up with four more.  Funny to us, but not so funny to Jersey residents who need quality health care.

[vette6387]

Someone ought to do a study of all the states just to see the difference between the Red’s and the Blue’s on this issue. I am betting that over time, if FUBOCare is allowed to stay, that it won’t just be NJ loosing doctors.

[posterchild]

Are they losing practicing doctors or are they losing medical school graduates? It could be that NJ is a greater than average destination for medical education for people from other states and not just natives of NJ.

[Dick Vomer]

They should stay. In fact I think that the governor and legislature should make it mandatory that if you are educated in the New Jersey medical schools affiliated in any way by the state that you should owe them a year per year of practice.

Same for the residency programs that are funded in any manner by the state. So if you do 4 years of school, 4-8 years of residency/fellowship programs you would have them locked in till their mid to late 30’s .. perfect.

That should just about put the entire medical system in vapor lock and shut it down in New Jersey..hahahahahaha. I’m sure that the brilliant minds that think we can tax our way to wealth are thinking about this. I say that we start a rumor and see how far it goes.

Then just add obamacare and a couple of million “free” medical clients.....should put the stake in medicine for the Garden State...what say you???

[qaz123]

Hmmmm!!!

I thought that fatass in the governors mansion was the answer to everyones prayers. Guess not. Property taxes up 13%. Way to go fatass.

[Dick Vomer]

For New Jersey residents, tuition will be $32,860 a year, plus $1,945 to $3,520 in fees. Out-of-state students will pay $52,680 a year, plus fees.

New Jersey ranks 33rd in the nation in medical school graduates, Cooper officials said. This year, fewer than half of New Jersey residents who applied to medical school were accepted and fewer than 20 percent scored seats at medical schools within the state, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges

I think New Jersey should raise their tuition even more and tax the cr#p out of the doctors in the state to make it fair for those that are paying their wages. yeah...that’s the ticket.

[CaptainAmiigaf]

Doesn’t matter at all. As “HE” said, “You will be able to keep your Doctor.”
That is 100% correct. The question, though, is, “Will you be able to find out where the Doctor has gone and will you be able to get there in time?”
Best of luck.

[needmorePaine]

Hmmmm!!! I thought that fatass in the governors mansion was the answer to everyones prayers. Guess not. Property taxes up 13%. Way to go fatass

But they could've gone up 15%, so we should thank him for the property tax cut.

Funny that the reasons that docs give for leaving the state are basically the same reasons that everyone gives for leaving the state. The only thing keeping my wife and I here is immediate family.

[TomGuy]

A couple of weeks ago during my quarterly visit to my Internist, I asked him whether he was prepared for Obamacare.

He responded that the clinic (3 doctors) were just waiting to see what all they are going to be hit with.

In a prior visit in the early spring, he went into a rant about the paperwork and changes the insurance companies and drug companies keep making. He said he was about ready to consider early retirement.

[TomGuy]

I should have added to my previous post — my doctor/clinic is in Arkansas, not New Jersey.

[posterchild]

...fewer than 20 percent scored seats at medical schools within the state...

I don't know how that compares with other states but if 80+ percent are originally from out of state I expect a good chunk of them won't stay. Taxes are likely a factor but not the whole story. Few people select their college based on where they plan to live afterwards.

If practicing doctors who've decided to work in NJ and have established practices are now fleeing in greater numbers then that is more likely attributable to a bad business climate.

[qaz123]

I moved out of NY a long time ago and I also have family in northern Jersey.

If I had the money and the manpower, I’d kidnap each and every one of them and move them down South.

[GeronL]

how many docs will go cash-only?

[Gay State Conservative]

My Cardiologist,a senior member of the medical staff at three major Boston hospitals and a faculty member at Harvard Medical School,told me during my most recent visit with him that he's going to be retiring soon.When I expressed disappointment at the news (he's an outstanding doctor and a great guy) he said that he originally planned to retire in about 5 years but he was bailing out early to avoid having anything to do with Osama Obama Care.He also said that quite a few of his colleagues at these hospitals were considering a similar move.If this plan is so unpopular at Harvard Medical School,among people who understand it better than most,you know that Max Baccus wasn't kidding when he recently described it as a “train wreck”.

[spawn44]

Not to worry. Their are millions of illegals waiting to move in. Hello NEW DETROIT.

[kearnyirish2]

“Not to worry. Their are millions of illegals waiting to move in. Hello NEW DETROIT.”

One difference between NJ and Detroit is that the illegals generate economic activity (untaxed, but activity nonetheless). NJ is definitely in a death spiral, though; the doctors fleeing are joining just about any other taxpayer and business that can get out. It has been going on for decades; people tolerated the high taxes when good jobs were plentiful, but most of those have been sent to Asia and we’re stuck with taxes stuck at “good old days” levels...

[kearnyirish2]

“If I had the money and the manpower, I’d kidnap each and every one of them and move them down South.”

I under stand the sentiment; that’s a shame. NJ has great beaches in the southeast, mountains in the north, and great farmland between; there aren’t many places where you can drive an hour to get to any of the three. It certainly doesn’t resemble the fairly prosperous NJ I grew up in.

[BilLies]

Yes, the question is “Where are they going?”

[MeganC]

“New Jersey loses nearly 70% of the doctors it educates to other states.”

This is not a big deal or even a story if you turn this around and say:

“70% of the doctors educated in New Jersey are in high demand in other states.”

Read it this way and it’s a compliment to the medical schools in New Jersey.

But don’t let a crisis go to waste, even if you have to manufacture one.

[SeekAndFind]

Well, the even more important question is this — Does NJ want these doctors they educate to STAY and PRACTICE in NJ or not?

If the answer is — “NO” or “WE DON’T CARE”, then this article is much ado about nothing.

But if their answer is “YES”, then NJ better ask themselves WHY they’re not staying.

The same question goes for businesses that hire people and provide employment.