ObamaCare's Lost Tribe: Doctors

Wall Street Journal ^ | 07/05/2012 | Daniel Henninger

[SeekAndFind]

Back at the at the dawn of ObamaCare in June 2009, speaking to the American Medical Association's annual meeting, President Obama said: "No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period."

But will your doctor be able to keep you? Or will your doctor even want to keep you, rather than quit medicine?

For the longest time now, since day one of the Affordable Care Act, we have been having arguments over the mandate to purchase health-care insurance, requirements that insurance companies accept policyholders regardless of health, and price discrimination in insurance policies.

And of course, the Supreme Court—or something resembling the Supreme Court—outputted a decision on the tax status of the insurance-purchase mandate, the states' obligation to pay for Medicaid and as a bonus, the Commerce Clause.

Have you noticed what got lost in this historic rumble? Doctors. Remember them?

ObamaCare has been a war over the processing of insurance claims. It has been fought by institutional interests representing insurance, hospital and pharmaceutical firms. The doctor-patient relationship, or what used to be called "the practice of medicine," has sunk beneath these waves.

Barack Obama, a savvy pol, understood from the start that rationalizing payments claims through the maw of these private and public bureaucracies was not what the average person thinks of as "health care." To any normal person, health care means that when you or yours get really sick, the doctors and nurses who attend to you will push all else aside to give you medical help.

Thus, the constant Obama chorus that you can "keep your own doctor." No one knows better than Barack Obama that his law sends the nation's doctors on a voyage into an uncharted health-care world

[tobyhill]

Doctors will seek out states that don’t expand Medicaid because the reimbursement rate for Medicaid will be maybe 10%.

[Ron C.]

US doctors are leaving the country in droves - going to places where they can practice medicine without government interference.

[Jacquerie]

Don’t worry. There will soon be plenty of government educated and salaried doctors. They’ll be every bit as proficient as those in Cuba.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period.”

“But will your doctor be able to keep you? Or will your doctor even want to keep you, rather than quit medicine?”

Obama is going to say, “I never said anything about your doctor keeping you.”

[tennmountainman]

Don’t be so sure that Zero won’t declare a national emergency.
Force retired doctors to return to work. And send doctors
anywhere in the country Obama wants them to work.

[Pollster1]

Physicians will be the second biggest losers from ObamaCare. Patients will be the biggest losers. I hope and pray that we will be able to repeal this horrible bill before the damage is inflicted on our country.

[Dutch Boy]

It’s going to be a good time to learn pioneer and homeopathic medicine. It might not be a bad thing to start collecting books on the subject before they are outlawed.

[Pollster1]

Don’t be so sure that Zero won’t declare a national emergency. Force retired doctors to return to work. And send doctors anywhere in the country Obama wants them to work.

He can't quite do that. He can just tax them if they don't follow his orders and return to work where he commands them to go.

[CaptainAmiigaf]

Wrong..Doctors will NOT be the biggest losers under Obamacare. The biggest loser will be the cardiac emergency who finds there is NO Cardiologist to keep him alive. Or perhaps the auto accident casualty who discovers there is NO doctor in the now closed Emergency Room.
It may well be YOU, when your long term doctor has quit in disgust, and your new one (if you can find one) isn’t sharp enough to spot that little difference in you, so you now have 4 months to live.
OBAMACARE will make the actual practice of medicine not worth the financial cost, the time required and the not worth fighting the government.

[coydog]

And when the rest of the doctors stampede out of the country, then what?

[tennmountainman]

He will create an “Exit Tax” to leave the country.
And it won’t be a small tax. It will like tens of thounands of dollars.

I am surprised CA hasn’t started an “Exit Tax”

[Pollster1]

USNS Mercy is a government hospital ship, one of the biggest and worst designed hospital ships in the history of the world. If ObamaCare is not repealed quickly, I imagine there will be a fleet of private hospital ships off the coasts of the USA, built for the task or modified from cruise ships, rather than converted from an unwanted supertanker. Hospital ships with a non-US flag will be immune from frivolous malpractice lawsuits, free of the unnecessary paperwork that doesn't improve care, and paid in cash by those with the financial means - probably costing far less for better care than we'll get for our tax dollars. I rather like the idea.

[tennmountainman]

Obama will TAX the retired doctor everyday until he or she returns to the emergency room to work. It will be under the
coming NATIONAL HEALTH CARE EMERGENCY ACT.

And Roberts will be the swing vote to uphold the act.

[cripplecreek]

[coydog]

Go out on a “vacation”, make your immigration arrangements in some country that welcomes skilled doctors, and don’t come back. Or just take your passport (or buy one from a country of convenience), get on your boat and sail away.

I wonder how soon the “coyotes” will stop smuggling Mexicans in and start smuggling Americans out?

[freeangel]

The AMA made a deal with the devil and soon we’ll be hearing how hot it is in hell.

[Jacquerie]

THAT is a terrific idea. Call them Liberty Ships.

[dagogo redux]

Wife, an ER Nurse, and I, a shrink (MD), had a lengthy discussion last night about various ways to retire or semi-retire, or go do locum tenens work in New Zealand or some such, or go ex patriot and settle in Baguio - anything but continue the worsening grind of our thankless professions. And believe me, we are far from alone in this.

[Pollster1]

THAT is a terrific idea. Call them Liberty Ships.

Thank you. Once rationing or delays reach their inevitable levels, I imagine the Liberty Ships (great name!) will be terrifically profitable too.