[randita]

Part of our health care system is already socialized to a degree in the form of Medicare.

Many doctors are limiting their Medicare patients and/or refusing to treat Medicare patients at all because the reimbursement for services is too low and the paperwork required involves a full time staaffer or two.

As of now, doctors in the U.S. have the right to determine who they will or will not treat. As more and more doctors refuse to participate in Medicare, Congress will probably enact laws which force them to make Medicare patients a certain % of their practice in order to keep their licenses.

[friendly]

Medicare is a nemesis to an increasing number of MDs, who try to avoid it if at all possible. Many others are trapped in Medicare based practices and burning out rapidly as a result.