You can keep your doctor... yeah, good luck with that!

[4est_4est_Gump]

A Surgeon Cuts to the Heart of the ObamaCare Nightmare
"And as a doctor, I get it handed to me both ways. My taxes are raised, and my fees are lowered."
By Stella Paul
June 30, 2012

The day the Supreme Court ruled in favor of ObamaCare, a friend called me. He's an extremely dedicated, much-loved surgeon, and he was frustrated and livid in equal measure.

"I've actually had a lot of experience working in all different types of environments," he began. "I've worked in a government-run socialized medical care system, and I saw the waste and inefficiency.

"The longer people worked in that system, the less work they wanted to do, because the more you wanted to do, the more they dumped on you. So after a while you stop doing it, because they're not paying you to do more. Why should you do a difficult case, a difficult surgery that will take you hours and hours to do?

"You might start out wanting to do it, but after a while, you just run out of energy, because there's no incentive. You'd have to be a superhuman being to continue to work in that system and not be worn down by it.

"Because nobody wanted to work, it would take an hour to turn over the surgical room. In my private practice now, it takes ten minutes.

"And I saw tremendous waste: closets of stuff that never got used. Nobody cared.

"Capitalism has completely transformed my sub-specialty. When I was in training, a common procedure that I do now took 40 minutes, and people needed a month of recovery. Now it takes 10 minutes, and people can go back to work almost immediately.

"And all these improvements were driven by the financial incentive. Capitalism has had a tremendously positive effect on patient care and outcome in my specialty.

"But when I go to meetings now, I see that there's very little innovation going on. Everything's being impacted by ObamaCare, which, among other things, raises taxes on medical devices.

"You know, doctors are people, and we're being hammered on all sides here.
It's the paperwork; it's insurance; it's transitioning to electronic medical records, so the government can get their mitts into your practice. It's lawsuits; it's rising overhead and decreasing compensation; it's stress upon stress upon stress.

"And a lot of doctors are going to say, 'Forget it. I don't want to do this anymore.' Guys that are 5 or 10 years older than me are just going to give up and walk away.

"Why should I be a slave to the government? You know, it used to be that doctors would do charity work at a charity hospital. Nobody wants to do it anymore, because we're too overwhelmed.

"I work 60 to 70 hours a week, so how am I supposed to fight back against this? Most doctors don't have the time to lobby their congressman or go to Washington. If you're a doctor in the trenches, you've got a stressful job; you've got a family. You're seeing the same number of patients and making half the income you used to make. People are litigious these days, so you've got to worry about lawsuits. When are you going to find time to lobby a politician?

"And the American Medical Association threw us all under the bus, even though only 18% of doctors belong to it. These people are ivory-tower academics, and they're liberals. Most of them are in academic medicine; they get a salary with some sort of incentive bonus. They show up to work and go home. They're not in the trenches like me, figuring out how to compete with other doctors and pay for malpractice insurance and how to hire four people I need to implement the electronic medical records and two people I need to deal with insurance.

"And as a doctor, I get it handed to me both ways. My taxes are raised, and my fees are lowered.

"You know, young people today who go to medical school -- I don't know what to tell them. You couldn't pay me to go to medical school today. Some doctors are going to graduate with $500,000 in debt, and how are they going to make a living?

"You're 32 or 33 years old by the time you finish your training; you're married with little kids. You've been an apprentice for 16 years, and now you're faced with socialized medicine. That's the reality on the ground. How are you supposed to manage that?

"Fortunately, I still love what I do. But I don't know what's going to happen. I think we'll wind up with a two-tiered medical system: a private one for the rich who pay cash and a mediocre one for everyone else.

"When my dad was 91, he had a heart attack and ended up with a stent. He had two more good years after that before he died. After ObamaCare, some government employee is going to decide that he is too old for this and not 'approve' for him to have that procedure.

"It's just a feeling of helplessness. The only organizations that are fighting for doctors are the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, and Docs4 Patient Care."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/06/a_surgeon_cuts_to_the_heart_of_the_obamacare_nightmare.html

 

[RobDownSouth]

That poooor doctor!!

A Surgeon Cuts to the Heart of the ObamaCare Nightmare
"And as a doctor, I get it handed to me both ways. My taxes are raised, and my fees are lowered."
By Stella Paul
June 30, 2012


http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/06/a_surgeon_cuts_to_the_heart_of_the_obamacare_nightmare.html

The doctor is whining about the increased taxes on medical devices. He's a surgeon. How many "medical devices" does he need to purchase in a given year? Hmmmm?

He sez his fees are down, but how is that Obama's fault?

Soo many unanswered questions....not that folks like AJ care about answers....

 

[Sean]

Why should you do a difficult case, a difficult surgery that will take you hours and hours to do?

This, of course, is a complete lie. Private hospitals in the UK palm off all their difficult cases on the NHS because it isn't cost effective for them. I stopped reading after that because it's obvious the whole thing is bullshit.

 

[Byron In Exile]

This, of course, is a complete lie. Private hospitals in the UK palm off all their difficult cases on the NHS because it isn't cost effective for them. I stopped reading after that because it's obvious the whole thing is bullshit.

Are you entirely daft?

You're saying basically the same thing as the article, and calling it bullshit?

Perhaps I ought to have expected that...

 

[RobDownSouth]

It's the paperwork; it's insurance; it's transitioning to electronic medical records, so the government can get their mitts into your practice. It's lawsuits; it's rising overhead and decreasing compensation; it's stress upon stress upon stress.

"And a lot of doctors are going to say, 'Forget it. I don't want to do this anymore.' Guys that are 5 or 10 years older than me are just going to give up and walk away.

Dr. Whiny should thank his lucky stars for insurance and all the attendant paperwork, I can't imagine him getting too much cash business as a surgeon otherwise.

Electronic records? Computers are here to stay, Doc. Chickenscratch heiroglyphics on a patient's chart have gone the way of the dodo.

Lawsuits? A cost of doing business. I asked my doctor Wednesday how many times he'd been sued for malpractice. "Not once in 21 years". Well...some doctors are obviously getting sued. Probably the ones who fuck up.

Your older colleagues are walking away from their chosen profession? Isn't America great? You can work in any field you like. Good luck replacin' that income stream!

 

[Byron In Exile]

I can virtually guarantee you that that article was not written by a doctor.

 

[TorontoBoyWest]

I can virtually guarantee you that that article was not written by a doctor.

My first thought was plastic surgeon....

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a miracle worker!

 

[koalabear]

This, of course, is a complete lie. Private hospitals in the UK palm off all their difficult cases on the NHS because it isn't cost effective for them. I stopped reading after that because it's obvious the whole thing is bullshit.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn233/koalabear_photo/ththsmilie_happy_251.gif

 

[Ulaven_Demorte]

Another copy and paste pant-load from the "American Thinker".

 

[Byron In Exile]

Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a miracle worker!

Well, it ought to be more like, "Dammit, Jim! I'm a propagandist, not a doctor!!"

 

[Byron In Exile]

Another copy and paste pant-load from the "American Thinker".

And what in the fuck are the miserable fat likes of yourself doing, here?

Ought you not to be off learning to drink deep with the rest of us in Denmark in order to make some sense to the rest of us?

 

[fuckwaffle]

This, of course, is a complete lie. Private hospitals in the UK palm off all their difficult cases on the NHS because it isn't cost effective for them. I stopped reading after that because it's obvious the whole thing is bullshit.

Then you don't know how government workers in the US think. The doc was correct...they're not paid to do difficult, in fact most think they aren't paid enough to do normal, even though government workers are the highest paid workers in the US.

 

[TexasWife25]

Then you don't know how government workers in the US think. The doc was correct...they're not paid to do difficult, in fact most think they aren't paid enough to do normal, even though government workers are the highest paid workers in the US.

 

[fuckwaffle]

So, how many government workers do you know?

 

[TexasWife25]

So, how many government workers do you know?

Way more then you.

 

[fuckwaffle]

Way more then you.

Doubtful, but you believe what you want.

Also, that would be than not then...more than you, not more then you.

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

Well, it ought to be more like, "Dammit, Jim! I'm a propagandist, not a doctor!!"

I always liked the Bones character. If he somehow fails as a doctor, at least he can make it as a comedian standing in front of a tax funded healthcare center.

 

[Ulaven_Demorte]

And what in the fuck are the miserable fat likes of yourself doing, here?

Ought you not to be off learning to drink deep with the rest of us in Denmark in order to make some sense to the rest of us?

Still living in 2009 with Koalatroll, Byron?

Newsflash dumbass: I lost 85lbs, I run a 5K three times a week, I'll wager I'm in better physical shape than half or more of you idiots still insisting I'm overweight.

So take your miserable fat ass comments, go fuck yourself, and have a bottle or three.

 

[TorontoBoyWest]

I always liked the Bones character. If he somehow fails as a doctor, at least he can make it as a comedian standing in front of a tax funded healthcare center.

You can be assured House isn't standing for this shit.

 

[Byron In Exile]

So take your miserable fat ass comments, go fuck yourself, and have a bottle or three.

This is the level of our discourse that you have chosen.

This is what you get.

How do you have sex with your wife, when you weigh enough that she can't breathe when you lie upon her?

 

[koalabear]

Still living in 2009 with Koalatroll, Byron?

Newsflash dumbass: I lost 85lbs, I run a 5K three times a week, I'll wager I'm in better physical shape than half or more of you idiots still insisting I'm overweight.

So take your miserable fat ass comments, go fuck yourself, and have a bottle or three.

You've no doubt lost over 500 pounds in your life. Then you look in the mirror and start eating twinkies again.


:edit:

 

[Johnny_Ray_Wilson]

You can be assured House isn't standing for this shit.

I would pay real money to see those two running their own hospital together.

 

[Byron In Exile]

You've no doubt lost over 500 pounds in your life.

That's not possible.

Not with what he's carrying around, now.

Unless he once weighed more than I ever suspected.

 

[Ulaven_Demorte]

This is the level of our discourse that you have chosen.

This is what you get.

How do you have sex with your wife, when you weigh enough that she can't breathe when you lie upon her?

You'll have to direct that question to someone who's experienced such a thing. I'd suggest Koalatroll, but I doubt he's had sex in a decade or more.

How do you manage to have sex after finishing off an entire bottle of whatever swill it is that you imbibe daily? Or is that as moot a question as the one posed to Koala?