Posted on 04/07/2010 6:43:31 PM PDT by raptor22
In rural areas of the country, obtaining a doctor's appointment is practically mission impossible. Even in cities such as Boston and Manhattan, it can be very difficult for patients to attain the medical care they badly need, particularly for Medicare and Medicaid patients. From New York's Upper East Side to the heartland to San Francisco's Haight Ashbury, a striking physician shortage exists in this country. The reasons for the dearth of doctors are complex, but one thing is certain: The "health care reform" that President Obama ardently pushed down the public's throat and recently signed into law will not increase the scant supply of doctors. In fact, it will make the problem worse.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
If you can’t see the MD...they can’t start the meter running..
The best thing to happen to a chest pain case....is death..as far as the gov’mt..AND insurance companies are concerned.
.....in witch doctors and shamans....
Your next doctor will know more about accepted claims and tricky state bar essay questions than human anatomy or surgical procedure.
I just posted this on another thread, so I hope you don’t mind if I repost it here, since it applies in spades.
Folks, they are going to cut costs in a variety of ways. Denying care to the elderly is just one of them.
The most powerful method the government will utilize to cut costs will be to simply destroy the access to imaging modalities (CT, MR, etc) and access to physicians.
I took the time to read some relevant portions of HR3200 (relevant to my profession) and found that there is very, very obscure wording in the legislation that will reduce the reimbursement to imaging modalities by a significant margin. (and that was only TWO relevant sections that I was able to noodle out exactly what they were saying-it was not easy)
Bottom line: You don’t give imaging modalities money for they work they do, they don’t do the work. They are simply not going to work for free. You need reimbursement money not only to pay the physician (professional fees) but to pay for the technologists payroll, scanner maintenance, upgrades, facility maintenance, isotopes, contrast, drugs, consumables, etc. (the “technical” fees)
If hospitals and imaging facilities don’t get paid, they are going to cut back on techs (or hire less capable ones) use older technology, defer/eliminate hardware and software upgrades, or simply cut back on the hours in the day they scan.
Your wait times will go from days or weeks to months or years. People will suffer and die as a result of a delay or missed diagnosis.
But less money will be spent on health care.
The ripple effect is going to be huge. Cutbacks in everything from catheters to contrast, research is going to go down the tubes, jobs writing software and implementing new technology are going to dry up.
When we remove the motivation for people or institutions to make money for providing services, those services won’t be provided. Plain and simple. Is that cynical? No. It has been proven again and again that the desire to make money is the best motivation for people to produce goods and services.
When it becomes an obligation, a mandate or a duty, what follows is obvious.
Oh, yes, you good folks out there best realize “Obamacare” will destroy the USA medical system as we know it. Not enough doctors, not enough nurses, not enough AMTs and EMTs to man and operate emergency medical responses, not enough hospitals, and drugs and medicine rationed by the government. as well as life itself rationed and determined by the government. Welcome to Obama’s socialism!!!! Don’t blame Obama, blame yourselves. Elections do matter!!!
On the bright side, medical school won't just be for exceptionally smart people anymore. Those C+ students you knew in high school will have their opportunity to become doctors.
The emphasis on “preventive care” means brightly colored posters, maybe even featuring Dr. Che (he was an M.D., y’know), in prominent places like in the admired Cuban system.
This terrifies me. It’s like he’s trying to destroy this country.
Plenty of well-trained, English-speaking doctors and nurses here at about 10 cents on the dollar:
http://www.LivingInThePhilippines.com
Same with the doctors, getting reimbursed at only 60% won’t even pay the over head. My doctor has a sign up in his office that if Medicare is your only insurance, then pay the difference up front or NO appointment. And he’s retiring because he refuses to be told how to practice medicine by some one who has NEVER been to Med School.
Maybe he will go the Mao route, and put declare that the people doing the laundry in hospitals are now surgeons.
It’s probably going to suck a whole lot worse for Obama voters than the rest of us, who don’t expect Dr. Unicorn to fart rainbow Skittles.
What do you call a doctor who made A’s in Med School, and one that made D’s in Med School....DOCTOR...ditto for a teacher or a lawyer. Only difference is the doctor who made A’s will have a terrific practice through word of mouth, the other will have all the ones on government care who hope for at least half baked care.
Nah, it's still easier to go to law school than med school.
Oh yeah?
Well the Washington Times is a racist paper!
/sarc
What's your best guess on what country the doctors that got A's will be setting up their practices in?
The way things are going, Cuba will even be able to establish a thriving medical tourism business with patients from the US.
Yup. With an eye toward a career in politics for many of them.
What I’m thinking now is not printable. Or I would get banned.
Cuba would probably be glad to. They can keep the masses away and let in only tourists.
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