No, it is the cost of business, insurance, taxes, technology that drives the cost of business. Doctors annual salaries and insurance reimbursements have been declining since the advent of managed care.
Most hosptials these days are losing money and many doctors are retiring early because the problem.
Good look getting an onocologist or specialist care in your retirement. You will be waiting in a very long line.
The only game is that people expect 1st rate care, the insurance does not pay reasonable rates, and the patient does not want to pay the remainder. This is the reason even the Mayo Clinic will no longer accept Medicare patients insurance.
There are a couple of MD’s in my town that have gone to a “new model” with their practice(s)
They have gone “bareback”; meaning that they carry NO malpractice insurance. They have made their practices LLC’s in order to insulate their personal property from lawsuits, and have signs in their waiting rooms and have patients sign waivers acknowledging this fact.
Secondly, they have rejected ALL insurance: office visits are $30 cash on the barrel-head. All necessary tests are outsourced to insurance-taking hospitals or labs. Necessary procedures patients are put on a payment plan, or they pay cash at time of service.
The MD’s in question have been able to cut office staffs radically due to the reduced paperwork from NOT having to file insurance (a major PIA). The get paid at/near time of service, and don’t have to wait for 3-6 months to get paid by 3rd parties.
It must be popular; both MD’s that I know that have gone to this model stay packed.