“Libs have seriously miscalculated here, in assuming that smart, motivated people will continue to put up with their nonsense. If you’re talented, intelligent, and have the financial means, why would you deal with idiocy, when you could move to (for instance) Costa Rica, do the same work for the same money, with no hassle?”
Not really. They see independent businessmen doctors as a big part of the problem. They want care to be administered by nurses and nurse practitioners working for gigantic Accountable Care Organizations that answer only to HHS. Fewer doctors is a good thing for progressives. That’s how they are going to “bend the cost curve down.” And, if it wrecks the health care system and forces single payer, even better.
To your point, I'd argue that there's a lot of stuff that can be handled by nurses and PA's. For instance, if my kid has a sore throat, there's no need to see a trauma doctor in the ER. And I'd bet 70 (80?)-odd percent of medicine is just that. Sore throats, earaches, physicals, and the like. Preventative Maintenance, as it were.
However, lawsuits and ridiculous regulations forced docs to practice defensive medicine. And, that kind of one-size-fits-all nonsense is what got us in trouble in the first place.
I don't think there are many reasonable people who would say that the medical profession in America was perfect and totally without need of any change. However, rather than addressing specific issues with a scalpel, what the current regime has accomplished is to choose the nuclear option and wreck the medical profession from the top down.
I'm dubious that medicine in America will survive ObamaCare. Indeed, I'm dubious that the country will surive it, as well.