Posted on 03/28/2010 8:01:30 AM PDT by Freedom Frayed
Better beat the crowd and find a doctor.
Primary care physicians already are in short supply in parts of the country, and the landmark health overhaul that will bring them millions more newly insured patients in the next few years promises extra strain.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
There is a similar situation with nursing schools. My friend’s husband had to maintain a 4.0 to get into an RN program (I know, because I helped him with his English papers to keep those grades up.) In the meantime, when we don’t have enough nurses in this country, we need to import nurses from the Phillipines and other countries. Why don’t we have enough nursing programs domestically?
I have heard (but haven’t done the research) that many of our med school slots are given to rich foreign nationals. Two of my brother’s best friends (sons of doctors who were both immigrants, themselves) could not get into medical school in-state. One of his friends is a genius- he started college at the age of 16. Both of them are very bright and high achievers.
In Germany, they let qualified Germans go to medical school (before foreigners) and they actually have a glut of doctors- they have so many that some of them moonlight in the UK on breaks (where they have a doctor shortage, as well.)
We vacationed in Germany when my daughter had a sudden ear problem. It was the day before a holiday, and my step-grandmother called up her ENT and got me a same day appointment in 4 hours. Yes, as a foreigner, I had to pay for it myself (it was not free!), but I was able to get in right away. I can guarantee that there is no way I could get a same day appointment with a specialist of any kind, here, and I have “Cadillac” insurance. (Not only did we get in right away, but he spent at least 20 minutes with us.)
the Muslims will be our new doctors, just like in Canada and England
My 85-year-old father sees a very talented doctor who couldn’t be a nicer person. However, I noticed that she has a signed picture of Steny Hoyer in her office. She might as well just hang a sign that says, “When it comes to public policy, I’m a dunce.”
Doctors are no different than so many others in the general population. They get busy with their professional and personal lives and either miss the policy details or don’t bother thinking them through — that is, until it affects them directly.
There is a good chance the mandates will be found unconstitutional and I doubt that zero could force physicians to accept Medicare, Medicaid and 0bamacare exchanges with the threat of a loss of licensure. Here is why:
1. They seek to cover 30 million more people beginning in 2014, but there is no provision to hire, import or train new doctors or providers. We also have an aging population that requires more treatment.
2. The medical homes will actually restrict access to specialists by providing primary care physicians and providers financial incentives to withhold referrals and advanced testing. As the article indicates, 65% of physicians are specialists. The specialists provide the bulk of advanced cardiac, cancer, musculo-skeletal care. The specialists do the heavy lifting and are directly responsible for improved disease outcomes. With reimbursement cuts to specialists, the demand for specialty care will be intense and efforts to prevent those specialists from opting out of some of the government programs via coercion will simply backfire big time.
3. It takes 4 years of med school, and another 4 years residency (in most cases) to practice medicine after college. Specialists take 6-7 years or longer AFTER Med School for cardiology, neurosurgery, orthopedics training. Even if a surge of college seniors went into Med School right away, you would have to wait at least 8 years for a primary care doc. But even more, there is not enough capacity at medical schools to accommodate any immediate surge of medical students.
4. Despite the poor economy, the interest in being a physician is waning. The August 09 IBD poll showed that 46% of current doctors are considering quitting or retiring early. Many children of doctors become doctors and many physicians are advising their kids to stay out of medicine.
5. Don’t count on nurses to get advanced practice degrees to pick up the slack. The median age of an RN is really starting to get up there and giving nurses some of the responsibilities of physicians will exacerbate the existing nursing shortage.
Beggars can’t be choosy. With 0bamacare, the government will be the beggar. Punishment will only accelerate the fight out physicians out of medicine.
“All the surgeons I work with are planning to retire early, move to Costa Rica or Panama and are advising their kids not to go into medicine.”
We hear this repeatedly on FR. Though I understand the frustrated reaction to the specter of Obamacare, am I alone in believing this defeatism stinks of cowardice?
Easy for me to say since I cannot escape to Costa Rica or Panama! Still I don’t like it and think it is more of a sign of decay than a healthy reaction: our Founders did not run from death and neither should we. “Save your own skin” has never been a manly creed, we should not be supporting it.
Or, better yet, refuse the gov. mandate and find a doctor who will take cash payment.
We don’t have time to repeal it.
The political process is a joke.
Better to just ignore it and find your own doctor(s) and pay cash. It will fall under it’s own stupid weight.
The exception to your line of thinking, however, is that it has already been done. About 10 years ago, Massachusetts made participation in Medicaid/Medicare a condition of licensure. LOTS of docs left the state at that time. I am uncertain whether it remains a condition of licensure or not but it HAS been done previously.
We don’t have enough nursing programs because they require the instructors to have a Master’s degree and they can make a whole lot more money in another arena than teaching. I would teach in nursing school in a heartbeat - I am an nurse and a teacher but supposedly I am not qualified to do so. Only have a BA in education and an associate’s degree in nursing.
Anyone who values their life will find a private doctor among the ones starting concierge practices for primary care- but I don’t know what I’d do if I needed surgery - probably couldn’t afford private pay and I wouldn’t go to the government - they’ll have inferior practitioners.
Do you ave to have a Masters degree to teach in an AA program at a Community College?
The guy from the American Legion said on C-Span a lot of drs won’t take Tricare patients either. Tricare For Life is our retired over 65 Military’s health ins...it is administered out of the same agency as Medicare.
Maybe it’s just me, but if I’m going to put my life in the hands of my Doctor, I would start shopping for a new doctor pretty quickly if he/she made known to me his or her liberal political views.
CONSCRIPTION???????????????
True, you may be able to make this a condition of licensure at the state level, but doesn’t guarantee an appointment. In the UK, at least a few years ago, physicians could set aside time for private paying patients and then overbook the other days with the public patients.
Unless medical licenses were federalized, some states would elect not to force physicians to accept government insured patients as a way to attract physicians.
Anyways, the old Soviet adage will always prevail “you pretend to pay and I’ll pretend to work” Physicians working under coercion will not perform very well. Just imagine how some of these office visits would go. Sorry, nothing I can do for you, the operation would be too dangerous and you could suffer harm or die. Here, take some morphine and I’ll send you for a second opinion. There is something open in 6 months. Or how about this: you were nasty to the staff and I will have to discharge you, here is your 30 day notice and a list of other providers. There will be almost no appetite among physicians for ANY risk, difficult patients, or difficult procedures.
Use an alias, state that you are uninsured (at least until 2014) or state that you are not a citizen. If you do pull out a government insurance card, you’ve blown it. The rules have not been written, but I do not think there will be a requirement that a physician or provider must verify identification as a condition for treatment. After all, the Leftists want to get the illegal aliens insurance coverage through driver licences.
Obviously, you will need cash; credit cards, checks or money orders will not do. Welcome to Gray market medicine!
Is there a directory of concierge doctors?
Or as a good capitalist protect, create one.
Yes, that is my understanding. I could possibly be an assistant lecturer or clinical instructor. Are you an RN?
“Are you an RN?”
No. But I used to be a Paramedic.
.....Obviously, you will need cash.....
Back in the seventies, I had a good customer who was a physician and who needed my products at home and at his office. He was slow to pay. I called him to collect and he told me to just bring the invoice to the office and his receprionist would pay me.
I did that and was told they were out of money and to come back. She kept all the cash payments from patients in a box and when it was gone, she couldn’t pay bills.
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