I blame the government and people who think they have a “right” to my services. And “customers” are people who pay me, as opposed to a goodly number of my patients.
I would LOVE to be able to set my own prices with patients. I can’t. The government dictates what Medicaid and Medicare deigns to pay me. The insurance companies do likewise. The hospital dictates what insurance companies we HAVE to have a negotiated rate with. Other insurers will just pay us what ever they feel like if we don’t have a negotiated rate.
If I knew in Med school what I know now I would be an ophthalmologist or a plastic surgeon. People seem perfectly willing to pay cash for their services.
“I blame the government and people who think they have a “right” to my services. And “customers” are people who pay me, as opposed to a goodly number of my patients.”
I agree with you. It bothers me a great deal that procedures can be obtained at fractional cost off-shore.
Eventually, medical services will have to be provided on a paying basis here - and I believe costs will go down significantly.
I don’t think a lot of people understand that the cost driver is not the doctor and his/her paycheck.