I am a doctor. My practice is hospital based and has been under attack by medicare through cuts in reimbursement for the last 15 years. The transfer of medicare patients to private insurers resulted in a large drop in reimbursement to physicians. Our incomes have already dropped by about 50% over that time period. As a hospital based specialist I see this administration’s policies as running me out of business. The costs of running a business, and the cost of malpractice insurance and claims against physicians have risen consistently over that time. Many if not most of the claims are frivolous (thanks to a lottery mentality and an excess of lawyers) or unrealistic. “Rule 1: Patients get sick. Rule 2: Patients die. Rule 3: Doctors can’t change rule number 2.”
I am sure I am not alone.
You will hear, as I have already heard, “that we have to change the system so it works for everyone” —–mind you, everyone does get treated. 30% of my patients have no insurance.
You will hear, ” there will be a lot of pain as we make these major changes but we have to go through it”. Tell it to those who die because of the damage that will be caused by these policies.
You will hear, “We will make mistakes as we institute these changes, but we will keep working at it until we get it right”. The truth is you can very very seldom go back once you have made these changes. Particularly when they come as entitlements.
I grieve over the death of Healthcare. I am looking for alternate careers. I’m 48 years old and have been in practice for only 16 years, but I am considering retiring or moving to another country, though I’m not sure which one. I was originally thinking of looking for one with an unfettered healthcare system with the intention of working there, but have since changed my mind. Now, I’m just looking for one that is somewhat safe and still has a healthcare system that will be able to treat me or my family if I need it.
