Posted on 07/17/2012 5:30:47 PM PDT by Kaslin
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RUSH: You know who's next? Doctors. And it's not Obamacare. It's not Medicare copayments. It's not any of that. You know how they're gonna go after doctors? Very simple, and I might even see Obama make this speech this summer. It might even happen before the campaign.
It depends on how successful they judge this current tactic to be. See if you can envision President Obama, the president of the United States, after giving a speech where he says, "You got a business? You couldn't build that! Somebody else made that happen," transform to doctors. "Is it really fair that people should get rich off the misery and sickness of their neighbors? Where is the justice in that? How come they should have a bigger house than you do or bigger car than you do?
Obama: Doctors Choose Amputation Because Surgeons Get Paid More Than Physicians
"How come somebody should have more money just because they are capitalizing on the sick and misery that you've experienced? You know how these doctors are! They'll amputate a leg when they don't have to just for the extra 30 grand, or they'll pull a tooth or they'll do whatever." Obama has already said that. So how big a stretch is it for Obama to say, "You know, it's just not moral. It's never been right that people should get wealthy simply by treating the sick.
"That's something ought to happen for nothing, out of the goodness of people's hearts."
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Or simply watch Dr. Zhivago. The prognosis for us docs, and nurses like my wife, is not promising. We have no illusions about what’s in store. We may simply get while the getting’s good, and are already looking into it.
Of course, the overpaid lawyers - who don’t accept insurance, and are not told how to practice by the Feds the way docs are - can charge whatever they can get away with, and Obama probably thinks that’s an acceptable way to cash in on the suffering of others.
Then again when someone really needs an attorney, they will usually pay whatever they need to somehow. And when someone really needs a doctor, the vast, entitled majority of the population usually expect someone else should have to pay for whatever they want somehow.
Thanks! Just made a donation to Romney.
We are looking at a three step process.
(1) History’s finest collection of medical experts - American doctors - will retire, emigrate, seek new employment, or grudgingly accept the new reality.
(2) Doctors will be coerced to unionize. Salaries will decline, quite dramatically, but benefits like time off, early retirement, and malpractice exemptions will flourish.
(3) A sudden “doctor shortage” will require that we import thousands of new foreign M.D.’s every year.
A doctor must then have good grades, if not great for 4 years in college to get into a good medical school.-Hard work
After 4 years of regular med school, if he specializes it could be a couple of more years.-Hard work
Then comes residency. Long, brutal hours, for little pay.-Hard work
My Orthopedic spent 16 years in school and residency before private practice.
College and med school can now be up to $350-$450K
The average doctor earns about $200k a year.
My Ortho has 5 people on staff. Those are 5 people who get paod and get benefits and have taxes paid BEFORE the doctor does.
About 1/4 of earnings goes to malpractice insurance.
A doctor has to carry malpractice insurance for 7 years AFTER he retires.
How many years did he go to school BEFORE he finally STARTED to earn any money?
How much education does he have to get every year just to keep up with the latest techniques?
How much does med malpractice insurance cost? (He has to keep paying that 7 years AFTER he retires).
When YOU need a knee replacement, who do you want operating on you (or a loved one) A doctor who graduated from Bangledesh school of medicine or Johns Hopkins?
He has a legitimate point. Obama would not dare attack doctors openly, as Rush is suggesting he's about to, if the opponent were a rockribbed conservative who could fire back and make it a new issue.
Romney's necessary silence on Romneycare frees up Obama tactically, to pull all sorts of welfarist moves.
After two decades of living mostly overseas....I finally came back to the US in 2010, and ended up with a local doctor on my health insurance “network” (he accepted their insurance fee situation).
I arrived to find this cheaply decorated office with mostly furniture that he’d picked up from garage sales (wooden dining room chairs in the waiting room), with 1965 lamps, and pictures that you’d remember from Uncle Karl’s 1972 living room. The carpet was in marginal shape and should have been replaced seven years ago.
The staff? Well....they weren’t that bright and had various forms that indicated they wanted your social security number (at least three different forms). I just sat there and kept thinking that older folks would volunteer this....but not me.
The nurse? Well...she didn’t do a blood pressure check or temp reading. I’m not even sure that she was a registered nurse.
So the doc comes in, and he spent almost fifteen minutes filling out history, then doing a brief check. After small talk....and my questions....he kinda admits that half his customers are Medicare folks and he hasn’t really turned a significant profit since 2005. He still does ok, but with competition in the local area....he just can’t attract the right base of folks.
Two months later when I had a real reason to return...the office wouldn’t let me check in unless I wrote a check for $235 (the fee from the first visit). My insurance company had yet to pay them....eight weeks later.
Yeah, there are various pieces and parts of the US health system which are broke. I kinda think the system started declining once we created Medicare, and it’s bound to double up on problems as we move forward. We may all be flying into Costa Rica for real health care in five years.
I guess you missed the dates “1970-2000” in my post. I remember very well when Medicare paid “usual and customary” and docs welcomed as many Medicare patients as they could get. Very few were complaining about “socialized medicine” during those years.
Maybe he started after 2000-The older docs who “cashed in are often semi-retired now or have side businesses (unless they are paying for multiple divorces or poor business deals in the past), while the young doctors are looking at a bleak future. Many young docs I know are just trying to pay off debt as fast as possible so they can survive in the future.
It depends on the group you are looking at...those that specialize in adult reconstructive do not see those numbers....
You are right Medicare reimbursements were good and I am not disagreeing with you statements ......but now medicare and medicaid does not even cover the cost of procedures......woman pay more to have their manicures than medicare pays to cover an office visit...
Maybe he started after 2000-The older docs who “cashed in are often semi-retired now or have side businesses (unless they are paying for multiple divorces or poor business deals in the past), while the young doctors are looking at a bleak future. Many young docs I know are just trying to pay off debt as fast as possible so they can survive in the future.
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