We are really going to steal money from future generations to keep from cutting doctors

[RB TexLa]

medicare payments by 20%? I know the doctors don't mind stealing from children, they will steal from anyone but someone should stand up and say no.

[John Q. Citizen]

1. Just say no to medical treatment? Hmm.

[Heidi]

2. That's not true of all doctors.

In fact, I think it's unfair to suggest that doctors in general "don't mind stealing from children, they will steal from anyone."

[lyonn]

6. Agree Heidi!

Now days it seems too easy to try to clump people into groups. It's the insurance companies and hospitals (administration) that are fleecing the people. Ok, I just clumped insurance and hospitals, but, there seems lots of evidence that this is more likely than blaming the doctors.

[zabet]

9. +1

Musta been a sale on 'broad brushes' this week. ;) I have been seeing them all over DU today.

[mainer]

3. It will drive more doctors toward boutique practices

When they stop accepting medicare patients, we're sure going to miss those doctors.

One thing about the business of medicine: it's one product you really can't boycott.

[JDPriestly]

4. Doctors are not required to take Medicare patients.

A number of them in L.A. don't. The cost of maintaining a practice is just too high to justify taking Medicare patients. The pay has to cover the costs and the doctor's salary.

If we want doctors to continue to treat Medicare patients we have to pay the doctors decent salaries. They don't earn nearly as much as stock brokers on Wall Street or CEOs of health insurance or many other large countries, yet doctors provide a service that is much more important to us.

[tritsofme]

5. Do you favor the destruction of the Medicare provider network?

Providers would flock Medicare in droves if these cuts took effect permanently. They are running businesses, not charity, and cannot afford to treat patients at a loss because of bad government policy.

Seniors would face drastically reduced choices in selecting their doctors, and even hospitals, and experience much longer wait times for other doctors appointments as well. It would be the end of Medicare as we know it. If you think that is a good record for Democrats to run on in 2010 and 2012, I think there is something wrong with you.

[Barack_America]

14. Medicare health clinics for the elderly.

Death panels, if you will.

That's essentially what we would be left with.

It wouldn't just be private practice doctors that would exclude Medicare patients, but large hospital systems as well. What would that leave our retirees with?

Hospitals are currently getting squeezed by both sides; most have to treat the uninsured and reimbursements for the insured are going down as costs of delivering care rise. Something's got to give.

[Barack_America]

7. Sorry that you have such a negative and unfair view of doctors. nt

[msongs]

8. are we really gonna spend trillions on wars/occupation & corporate welfare instead of doctors? nt

[no_hypocrisy]

10. Until my father retired, 80 percent of his medical practice was Medicare patients.

He didn't make as much money as a boutique practice.

He didn't hunt down the elderly patients who were late or deficient in paying their bills.

He wasn't revulsed by their age or reminded of his own mortality. In fact, he was gentle and kind to each one. Asked about their pets and what they did with their time.

It would be a shame to lose more doctors like him.

[stray cat]

11. Are you willing to pay more to doctors to cover their losess from Medicare

Medicare already often pays less than 50%

[stray cat]

12. Everyone in favor of having your own pay cut please volunteer

otherwise why expect your neighbors to sacrifice if you are not willing to.

[patrice]

13. thank! you!

[likesmountains 52]

15. PLease show me even one physician who got rich taking care of Medicare patients.

[dionysus]

16. i don't drink with you.

[Bluerthanblue]

17. future generations inherit the good AND the bad of past generations

it's been that way since time began.

It's been that way since before the invention of "money"-

Future generations wouldn't exist without the sacrifice of present generations.

I'm sick of this silly argument. We all have inherited debts and gifts, blessings and burdens from those who came before, as my children will and grandchildren will and so it goes-

Those who can't accept the reality of what living in community is all about, need to find themselves a world that exists for them alone. Not an easy prospect.

[Yo_Mama]

18. Totally unreasonable

Most doctors are treating these patients at a loss right now. If the 21% cut goes through, a lot of them will be forced to cut Medicare altogether. And a lot of doctors already don't accept new Medicare patients because they can't afford to.

That is just going to leave poorer seniors and disabled without basic medical care, which isn't going to lower costs overall (they'll wind up in emergency rooms much sicker and more expensive to treat), and isn't going to save money for our children. True, it will kill some of them quicker. Is that your goal? Or do you just dash these things off without thinking?

If we want to save money, the way to do it is make sure that people can afford their medications and can see a decent primary care doctor when they need one. Unfortunately, older people have much higher rate of chronic conditions that do require primary care for effective management. And, btw, each person on Medicare pays over $100 a month - that's about $1,300 a year currently - for insurance that is supposed to cover doctor's fees. And most of them see a doctor only a few times a year. Is it really fair to try to pay the doctors $40 a visit? Are we going to try to balance the budget by taking money from older, poorer people for fake insurance?

What's democratic about your position? You might as well have written that these damned diabetics wanting their insulin were stealing money from the children.

PS: I'm still in my 40s and I'm not on Medicare.

[eShirl]

19. No; we're stealing money from future generations to keep our military in Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Jakes Progress]

20. Not usually a purveyor of neocon dogma.

But this OP reeks of it.

Don't cut medicare because there are other ways to pay, such as raising the tax on the rich (many of whom are doctors). Another way is to institute single payer which will lesson costs for medical care.

This plan is a way for the rich (whose insurance you pay for) to lower their taxes by taking services from the poor and elderly. It also smacks of ageism and class warfare.

[northernlights]

21. You "know doctors don't mind stealing from children"

Honey, you don't know jack shit. :eyes:

You clearly have no clue what it costs to get through med school.
You clearly have no clue what it costs to set up a practice.
You clearly have no clue, period.

Doctors treat medicare patients at a loss. Go ahead...make it a bigger loss. There is already a shortage of doctors. Your "prescription" to cut doctors pay further will mean that 1. medicare patients won't be able to find *any* doctor that can afford to take them on.

Oh, don't think that forcing doctors to treat them at a loss will help future generations either. All that will happen, once word gets out, is nobody in their right mind will take on a quarter million dollars in debt and 8 years of grueling work to help people.

Just remember, they are among the more talented of the population. Maybe they'll decide to become hahvid mba's instead.

[FBI_Un_Sub]

30. Waive student loans for docs who treat medicare

and for docs who go into primary care shortage practices and underserved areas.

[MadHound]

22. No, what we're stealing money from future generations for is to continue a couple of wars of empire

We've spent over a trillion dollars on these two illegal, immoral wars, with no end in sight. Stack that up against Medicare, well, sorry, but there's no comparison.

What we are doing is taking the Soviet style of collapse, putting more and more money and resources into our war machine while the needs of the people go unmet and our society slowly collapses.

We shouldn't be blaming this on doctor's who get very little, if any, profit from Medicare patients, and start looking at the bigger picture of what we spend our national budget on. Currently over one half of it is spent on the military. Don't you think that's rather obscene? I do.

[gateley]

23. Better they pay for better health care than for oil wars. And doctors don't steal from children. nt

[quaker bill]

24. No one ever pays it back

they just print more money. You can't steal money from your grandkids because it has not been printed yet.

[TreasonousBastard]

25. What's with all these threads beating up on people? BP gas station workers, pensioners,...

doctors...

This is really sick. Some people either do not belong here or are simply too stupid to breathe.

[Bluerthanblue]

29. well,

as for this thread, it's something the OP does from time to time.

As for the others, I'm not sure. Selfishness seems to be a popular topic lately.


:hi:

[Texasgal]

26. Ridiculous!

The problem with medicare is that it's UNDER FUNDED!

Doctors barely cut even with medicare!!! Stealing from Children? Are you nuts?

[Gecko6400]

27. He/she must be nuts!

[Dr.Phool]

28. A quick drive by.