Posted on 01/05/2012 9:43:56 PM PST by Nachum
New York - Doctors in America are harboring an embarrassing secret: Many of them are going broke. This quiet reality, which is spreading nationwide, is claiming a wide range of casualties, including family physicians, cardiologists and oncologists. Industry watchers say the trend is worrisome. Half of all doctors in the nation operate a private practice. So if a cash crunch forces the death of an independent practice, it robs a community of a vital health care resource. (Snip) Doctors list shrinking insurance reimbursements, changing regulations, rising business and drug costs among the factors preventing them from keeping their practices afloat.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
“In medicine it is extremely difficult to collect what it costs you to do business because the insurance companies see what the FG is paying through mediscare and try to reimburse that paltry amount.”
Let’s return to capitalism. It’s the only way to save medicine and keep the government from collapsing under a system that already absorbs 17% of our economy. Get rid of all the nanny government oversight. Let people buy the meds they need at a pharmacy, without need of a permission slip from a doctor. If you want to go to a doctor, pay cash. If a doctor’s knowledge is not worth the cash it will cost you, then do without.
Doctors should not be dependent on insurance companies or the government for their pay. They should be like all partipants in a capitalist society—they should depend on the market for their services based on their own talents and abilities—not on the government giving them a monopoly on the use of essential medications and services.
there already exists a program that will pay for medical school in exchange for working on Indian reservations, or inner city, etc....
have to feel bad for the Kurds...they seem like the only ones that appreciated us...
I beg to differ with you, most people I know do not get cheated on S/S. I retired at 62 I have drawn a hell of a lot more than I ever paid in. It is just the way it worked out for me.
gone will be the days where you had "your" doctor...most of "our" doctors don't go to the hospital anymore because of their work load...
don't get me wrong...medicine is still a highly paid profession, but the hassles, the long hours, etc...it'd be better to be a teacher with easy courses and work 1/2 the year....never get sued...never have to worry about a pension or medical care...
That’s because you got to take out earlier in the Ponzi scheme.
Its the ones who come in later who get screwed.
The only “bright” idea I have is we have to get off the socialism merry-go-round. There’s this attitude that a little socialism is a wonderful thing and it isn’t, it poisons the well in an ever expanding nightmare of pain and dependency. We have to become self sufficient again and take care of our own while getting government off our backs.
If we don’t we’ll continue this decline into eventual poverty and total dependence.
And last but not least. I respect what you are doing. It is an exceedingly hard task. It is our job to take of our own parents the best we can not our neighbors. I too am taking care of my parents. It isn’t far from being much more difficult. But it is what it is...
Saw my doc last year. The name of the practice changed so I asked him why.
He told me that his practice and all the others in the area went bankrupt.
Had to join the “co-op”
He’s now a “hospitalist” in the co-op. The co-op gets 100% of what they charge to the insurance company now.
Previously, they got about 30%.
Crazy.
FWIW I have been told that Medicare would pay me for being her caregiver but I haven't pursued that. As my friends say though; "your Mom already paid for it." And she did.
[My insurance practice is on the ropes. . It is one reason why I started “the list” and my website.]
If it is any consolation, my real estate business is DOA. Reinventing myself for umpteenth time. Fortunately making progress and have assets, but it has been absolutely brutal.
“Let’s face it ,we might end up in a war anyhoo, a new civil war or revolution, call it what you will. Let’s face it, we are living in an 1860 nation in a 1939 world.”
I’ve written a book called “Surviving World War II” which goes into the civil war we are already in. This time it is about indentured debt slavery. www.futurnamics.com/civilwar.php
There is a massive difference between “high caliber” and “competent”. Beyond that affimitive action, years ago, put downward pressure on the caliber of students going to med school in the first place.
If you're smart, you skip med school (and college, too — grossly overpriced due to government loans), and you go into fast food. Internship: you own one restaurant on a shoestring. Life is dicey. You owe a lot, and, if you don't manage costs, you bomb. Two restaurants, you're OK. Three, you're comfortable. Four+, you're well on your way to the hated one percent.
“Obama and Bush (YES I BLAME THAT PIECE OF SHIT BUSH TOO) really did a number on this country. I am probably in disagreement with most freepers since I think we really do need to get out of these damn wars now. We are broke.”
I completely agree with you, and I’m sure many others do as well. Best of luck.
“I have a novel idea, seniors could start to pay for the services they use.”
I agree, if they’d be credited with all of the freebies they bought for the permanent underclass in their 50+ years working. Someday somebody will say that when I retire (a few decades down the road); I’ve been paying taxes, social security, medicare, etc. for over 25 years already, and have never received food stamps, welfare, housing subsidies, unemployment, etc. I think I can safely say I’ve earned credits somewhere...
My brother-in-law dropped out of his group and went on staff at the hospital he works out of for precisely the above reason.
He's a cancer specialist who's annual purchases of cancer drugs was well over a million dollars. Because most of his patients were medicare recipients, he was actually losing money on the drugs he would administer and not getting fully reimbursed for.
It started before O=Care. The Medicare reimbursements to medical professionals and to hospitals are a joke.
And then, the law requires that hospitals have to treat everyone- whether insured, or a citizen - or not.
Hospitals are in deep do-do.
Imagine life with no doctor to turn to and no E.R. to go to. It is happening.
...”Somebody at CNN is actually doing their job as a journalist. Put them on the “Endangered Species List” and hide them from the MSM flash mob”...
YES! It would be wonderful if they awakened over there. There is so much which could be investigated in the world of medicine and what is happening to the link between doctor and patient as a result of nameless, faceless, bureaucrats who know nothing. Also, medical training has been revolutionized and not for the better. Comparing medical resident’s training today, for example, to how it was back in the 80s and 90s would make a great story. When patients become numbers only, it makes a sad world for the sick.
We would probably not be in these wars, if we were drilling our own oil.
By the way, did you know that Newt coined the phrase “Drill Here, Drill Now” long before Sarah did?
My dentistis also suffering from Obama’s efforts to destroy us. He can’t make a living from the semi-annual cleanings that folks with basic insurance get and many who need more in-depth work won’t get it because the insurance has limits. I am in the middle of a $5K job and insurance will pay $1K. Many would either have teeth pulled or let them get bad enough that they fall out on their own. Reminds me of the stories a year or so ago when folks in the UK were pulling their own teeth with pliers.
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