In this country, one of the most prosperous countries in the world, 47 million citizens have no health insurance. 50 million more are uninsured. (1) I wish these statistics struck rage into everyone's hearts. It does in mine. But who's fault is it?
Certainly not physicians. We (speaking of myself in the future tense) are not greedy. When I am a doctor, I want to make money because I am skilled, intelligent, compassionate, and competent physician. Not because some insurance company decided that a certain procedure would cost $3000. Doctors should get paid for how well they do the work they do, and for all the work it took them to get there. Anyone who wanted to be a doctor because of the money wouldn't make it through medical school. They probably wouldn't even make it to the MCAT. Being a pre-med is hard. Being a medical student is harder. Being a doctor...even harder. You pay ungodly amounts of money for malpractice insurance, you work ridiculous hours (more ridiculous if you're a hospital physician), you have around $200,000 in debt from undergrad and medical school, and somehow, you're trying to make a life for yourself. Not just a living. And sometimes you work in insurance systems that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. It's not physicians who are at fault.
It's also not the 97 million un-or-underinsured. I doubt anyone goes through life wanting bad insurance. And certainly no parent wants to see their child suffer through illness because Mom and Dad can't afford to see the doctor. Clearly, not their fault.
So it must be insurance companies. Health insurance costs way too much money and places too many restrictions on patients. Currently, a third of our country's health spending goes to corporate costs. (1) That's ridiculous. The health care industry should ideally be not-for-profit. That way, doctors can practice the medicine we spent 4 years of school, 3-7 years of residency, and $200,000 for. Insurance companies shouldn't be the ones practicing medicine.
Dennis Kucinich won't win the presidency. But I really like his health care ideas. See my reference for an interview with him from the Washington Post.
(1)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/10/05/DI200...
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I don't know much about doctors and their salaries...
but I'm pretty sure you don't get paid "per procedure." I'm not sure that's what you meant, but that is how your phrase "I want to make money because I am skilled, intelligent, compassionate, and competent physician. Not because some insurance company decided that a certain procedure would cost $3000" sounds.
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Even though you could just click my picture :) http://progressiveu.org/blog/burningexample
Most do. A Primary Care Physician will get x dollars from the insurance companies for a well visit, y dollars for a sick visit. Most physicians are similar. And many physicians are getting upset because the reimbursement is dropping for certain insurance companies (and yet the premiums for most people on these plans is increasing... hmm...)
The exceptions are doctors that work in public hospitals (like the ones in NYC) and military hospitals, as they get salaried pay. And Kaiser... they salary their doctors as well, I believe.
~C
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Wow, that is definitely news to me.
I've heard all the insurance complaints and arguments but that's definitely a new one.
Poor doctors.
Although when you think about it, I suppose it is a "service" like any service... you get paid more for making leather shoes than vinyl ones; you get paid more for brain surgery than giving someone a tissue for a runny nose.
Hm. I'll have to look into that.
There are so many things I need to look into :X
Oh, and this is totally off topic... but is that your dog in your icon? It's gorgeous :)
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Even though you could just click my picture :) http://progressiveu.org/blog/burningexample
Yeah, I work with a collections lady in a local pediatrician's office... the doctor is complaining about how especially Medicaid is cutting reimbursement.
Yes, that's my puppy. She's a big puppy (near 100 lbs now, I think). I love her to death.
~C
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I have a Rott/German Shepard mix but she's not that big... she was definitely the runt. Sorry to digress the conversation... just thought your baby was pretty :)
Thanks for the info about the insurance stuff.
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Even though you could just click my picture :) http://progressiveu.org/blog/burningexample
Mine's the runt too... she just had a dad that was a purebred champion and a mom that was up there too. So all her brothers and sisters are probably all around 150 lbs.
~C
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I guess you're right, but some doctors do get paid per procedure. It's called "pay per service" or something along those lines. I am trying to find a link but as of yet I have not.
Ah, yes. It's called "fee for service".
Oh, you know, that sounds vaguely familiar. Maybe I have heard of this before...
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Even though you could just click my picture :) http://progressiveu.org/blog/burningexample
Sometimes I feel like the hospital or clinics over charge the bill. Maybe they have to use advance equipment. I'm not sure about how the insurance work either. Do you have to be a citizen to get one? Every visit to the hospital, my parents have to pay a lot...like $80 or more per visit. Therefore, I hardly go to the hospital despite the fact of how sick I become. I still remember when my mother was hospitalized, she kept on asking my father to make the hospital release her because she knew we didn't have the money to pay for it. Sigh. All those nights I had to suffer in bed because I didn't want to tell my parents how sick I was. It was all because I didn't want them to pay for my visits at the hospital or the clinics.
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The reason hospitals charge so much is that the insurance companies negotiate a much lower price for their patients, and the hospital has to make up the lost money with uninsured persons.
You don't have to be a citizen to get insurance, but I'm pretty sure you have to be a resident. Though if you don't get it through work, it's going to cost you an arm and a leg to get it, especially for a family.
But this is exactly why we need to reform our system... too many people fall through the cracks, and paying $15,000 a year for insurance for a family of four, when you spend maybe $500 in that year on health care is just ridiculous.
~C
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Not to mention those who insurance companies refuse to cover unless it's a work plan because of their types of illnesses. Though, they do offer plans where you end up paying about the 15k/year for a single person for basic coverage. It's insane.
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~Fallon~
"I stood
Among them, but not of them; in a shroud of thoughts which were not their thoughts" -Lord Byron
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Hospital & doctor bills are rediculous. I had to go to the hospital one night [my eye was swelling shut & all kinds of fun stuff] and my bill was $50 with my co-pay. The lady at the desk told me that my insurance did NOT cover me in this county; but she let it slide because she felt bad for me. She could probably tell that I didn't have more than $200 within my reach.
I now have to go to an appointment that will cost me $155.
I have insurance & I'm disgusted that I am not covered in more than one county.
fantastic.I am amedical student also and most people thinh it's because of the money.Thus,I share your confirmation to the world
1) Where do you go?
2) What was your writing score?
~C
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i plan on becoming a medical student also. good luck to you !!
It's good to know that doctors (in your case a future doctor) really do care about people and not just the almighty dollar. It is the insurance companies that are to blame for the high cost in health care, and it is very sad that health care is so hard to get in our country. It is especially sad to see that uninsured patients seem to get substandard care than those insured. Some of that IS the doctors offices. One doctor told me once, when speaking about a relative, that people on Medicaid should not expect a "Cadillac ride." I took that as him telling me that just because he did not have health insurance, he wasn't going to receive the care he needed. I really wish things were different. All citizens, regardless of income, deserve the health care they need. I sometimes think that if doctors would offer some sort of sliding fee scale for the uninsured, then maybe more people WOULD get the health care they need. There must be something the doctors can do to help people.....maybe I am just dreaming.
I would take that comment to mean more like 'you aren't going to get a royal treatment if you can't pay the entire bill'. Medicaid patients get huge discounts on health care. The physician I work for takes a 65% cut each and every time he sees a medicaid patient. That's a pretty significant cut...
~C
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