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07-15-2008, 06:56 PM | #1 |
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Socialized medicine
I can see a lot of the benefits of socialized medicine. My chief concern is selfish but real--doctors will lose any sort of bargaining position. Pres Bush is about to veto a bill passed to temporarily fix a funding glitch in Medicare that cuts payments by 10%. We have to fight this every year, it comes down to the wire every year, and the only reason Congress listens is that doctors threaten to stop taking Medicare patients. Most doctors can threaten to do this because they have plenty of privately insured patients. If we switch to a one-payer system, doctors no longer have any leverage to prevent this kind of cut. Realize that once overhead is taken into account, a 10% cut in payment leads to about a 20% cut in income. Couple that with a 20% absolute tax raise (50% relative raise) that I've already discussed, and I'm not really excited about a one-payer system.
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07-15-2008, 07:25 PM | #2 | |
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won't affect them at all. In fact, everyone having mental healthcare coverage would be a boon to psychiatry. It would be huge. |
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07-15-2008, 08:21 PM | #3 |
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This tells me that much like cosmetic plastic surgery only the very rich see shrinks and shrinks are rolling in money. Physicians who deign to work for insurance companies get paid less because their fees are steeply discounted and partly becuase they have to accept medicare and medicaid patients as part of the deal.
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07-15-2008, 08:22 PM | #4 | |
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07-15-2008, 10:07 PM | #5 | |
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I wouldn't necessarily count on mental healthcare being adequately covered either. I wouldn't be suprised at all if psychiatry remains cash only if you're not reimbursed adequately. |
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07-16-2008, 01:21 AM | #6 | |
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I've said this before, but doctors are the only profession that lets other people decide how much they will pay them for their services (at least with regard to insured patients). Given that, it's no surprise if physician reimbursement continues to decline even in the setting of inflation in the rest of the economy. If we could decide ourselves how much to pay our auto mechanics for their services, we would be paying them less, too. |
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07-16-2008, 01:28 AM | #7 | |
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07-16-2008, 02:05 AM | #8 |
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Explain, please. CMS and insurance companies decide how much they are willing to pay for physician services. Most doctors get paid mainly by CMS and insurance companies.
What other profession has a similar arrangement with their "customers"? I would love to know since I will be able to decide how much to pay them when I need their services and/or expertise. Are there any lawyers that do business that way? By the way, looks like the Bush veto was overridden. |
07-16-2008, 02:07 AM | #9 | |
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Specialty groups that have a geographic monopoly can charge huge amounts. |
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07-16-2008, 02:31 AM | #10 | |
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I think we're eventually headed toward a formal two-tiered health care system in this country. Maybe 30-40% of people will pay for private insurance while everybody else stands in line for the few remaining doctors in major metropolitan areas (like university programs with residents) that will still accept government insurance. |
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