Speaking of health care experiences....

[busymom]

I'm curious as to what you guys think about the handling of some of the new medicare policies. We're pushing public option here that is like medicare and a lot of advocates are talking about how great medicare is (and it is adequate for some things and some people).

The big buzz today? New medicare rules coming into place will now prevent many specialists from getting paid to do a consultation.

To summarize this, 90 year old grandma with end stage cancer and alzheimers disease will still have her chemotherapy covered. If she lands in the hospital though and develops an infection, the infectious disease physician that would ordinarily be called in to see her and treat her would not be able to charge a dime for his services even if the consult takes him an hour and a half.

Your neighbor's gastric bypass will be paid for, but if he develops a life-threatening gastrointestinal problem while in the hospital, the gastroenterologist called to his bedside would not be able to bill for his consultation ... no matter how much time he had to invest at the bedside, reviewing the chart, coming up with a treatment plan and tracking down the necessary procedural stuff in the hospital.

So tell me how this all makes sense? What, logically, would be the effect of telling someone that they will not be paid to render services to someone? If I'm a plumber and I'm told that I won't be paid to fix 30% of the homes that I now service, do I still go to those homes out of the goodness in my heart? If I am a teacher and am told that I will do the same work for 30% less pay, do I do it because education is important?

Bottom line? Most of the docs that I know would never, ever abandon a patient in need ever...but care is going to change. There will be ways to sidestep this, but it will add more paperwork to an already over-burdened system.

If people don't want to pay doctors, they need to make medical school free, improve pay during residency and fellowship and limit lawsuits so that doctors don't have to pay outrageous sums of money for malpractice. Of course, nurses want to make a good income too, so to cut doctor's pay would mean cutting nurses and everyone else in the hospital as well....

Just another point of view.

Why can't we actually do this RIGHT? Why can't we start really talking about how we are actually going to be providing care for everyone without being sneaky like this. In the end, it is our care providers who will take the hit. Is that what we want?

[cutlassmama]

1. Simple answer: GREED

[busymom]

2. oh please...

That's such a ridiculous answer. I know too many doctors personally to buy into that for a minute. Do you really think that doctors should go to medical school for 4 years and attend 3-9 more years of post-medical school training (earning less than minimum wage and working 80-100 hours/week), should go into debt of $150,000 plus to work for free? Should they hire nurses but explain that they can't pay them and if they ask for money say they are greedy?

Last week, I had to have a repairman come out and fix my dishwasher. It cost $95.00 and took him 15 minutes. I paid him without thinking twice about it.

Like I said...if you want to lower physician salaries, you have to look at the cost of medical school, malpractice insurance and the years of training.

BTW...if the job isn't well-compensated (and it is demanding both physically and emotionally and requires a great deal of dedication, compassion and smarts) then you are going to see people with the aptitude and ability to become a good doctor go into jobs where they aren't called greedy if they want to make money.

And really, you say this as if we all don't want to make a nice income. I didn't turn down my last pay raise at work. I worked hard for it and I feel like I earned it. I don't earn what a physician does, but I also don't have to go back to work at 2am to treat people either.