I have several friends that are physicians (internal medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, etc). None of them are in favor of Obamacare. I have to say that I am not a fan of Obamacare (not that it matters now, I guess). I am especially bothered by it when the very people who are in the thick of the healthcare industry, who help people every day, are not in favor of it.
I am curious to hear if anyone else who is an actual practicing doctor has any thoughts they would like to share- for or against.
Not working in health care at all, but as a consumer of it, I can say that I know some doctors that have quit because of Obamacare and more that have been threatening to.
They say that they already are losing money on every Medicare patient.
Why should they now think it will be any different when Obamacare takes over completely by becoming a de facto national insurance carrier?
Hope that helps, along with what anyone in the trenches working in health care will say.
Then, many just won't speak up, remember half the country is head over heels over Obama and that means possibly half their patients and they would not want to alienate them.
I have also been told that they feel that there will be many, many restrictions to the types of healthcare they can provide and they would actually be hindered from helping people the way they should be helped. They feel that many things would not be treated properly because tests that should be run will not be run. They feel that they got in to healthcare because they want to help people and now they will not be able to do their jobs to the best of their ability.
I'm not a doc, but DH is (anesthesiology with a fellowship in Pain Management), and I can safely say that 95% of his colleagues are against it, largely because of how bad Medicare already is.
The only docs we know who are for it are the people who have made a career in the public hospital academic setting, which is already on the government teat, so to speak.
He is about to be done with fellowship and will be signing a contract here in a few weeks for a job to begin in July. It's pretty scary to be coming out of school and residency at this point and not know where the industry is going to go. He has worked his tushy off to be at the top of his HS class, his college class, his med school class, be one of the best in residency and his fellowship, only to be told he is essentially going to be working for the "gubmint" in the years to come. He's not real pleased with that, and I think there are many many brilliant minds you would want to be your doc in the future who will decide not to go through all the hoops to get their MD if it means your career is going to be decided by politicians.
I know I wasn't very eloquent in this post, but it's early, and I haven't had any caffeine yet...
I'm married to a physician, we run our own small clinic providing Student Health services to a small college. We are all for the the Affordable Care Act. Yes, it might mean a pay cut for us. It's not perfect (it was a lot better before the Republican stonewallers got their claws into it), but the good in it outweighs the bad.
A thumbs up from this medical family!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Just My Style
But there is already many restrictions to the kind of healthcare that can be provided - it's called insurance and employers.
Yes, that is already happening. Telling a patient that they can't get the diagnostics they need for proper treatment because their insurance won't cover it, and they can't afford it outright happens to us EVERY day. We jump through all sorts of hoops to get the wording on the order just right so it will pass the ins. co.'s flags.
It is such an expensive, time wasting PITA. We pay SO MUCH in staffing JUST to deal with this sort of nonsense, and we have no choice but to pass that cost along to our patients. It does no-one but the insurance companies any good, at all.
My dad, a very successful Sports Medicine MD who has owned his own practice for over 25 years was forced to join a Surgeon's group in order to continue to practice. It was going to cost him over $700,000 to switch his office to electronic medical records. No other option for him.
Obamacare is forcing group think... hooray, socialism!
EMR has allowed us to continue to practice - the old paper records were ridiculously hard and expensive to manage. $700k?? Really?
His office must charge a lot more than the rural family practice DH is in! Makes sense since he's a surgeon though. The office DH works in recently switched to electronic medical records too.Quote:
Originally Posted by leahandpie
People gripe about losing money with this plan, but Republicans love to cut Medicaid and Medicare, which in turn cuts insurance payments. Not whining, just facts.
DH is for Obamacare. Family physicians are more likely to support Obamacare than specialists.
Many private practice groups are having to merge with Physician Organizations or sell. When a private practice doc joins a PO, they become a salaried employee. If they sell their private practice to a large for-profit company, they do not have the job security they once had (already know a few that have been laid off). Healthcare used to be a pretty safe bet for career longevity, but no longer.
MDs who work in academic hospitals are already salaried, but many of the teaching hospitals are really in the red- they depend heavily on Medicare reimbursement which gets slashed every single year.
4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, 4 years of residency, two years of fellowship... would I do it again? I'm not sure. I DO know that some of the alternatives to Obamacare that were batted around were even less palatable.
My husband says the same thing. While I do not know if a single payer system will ever work in this country, there needs to at least be standardization across insurance companies. The different formularies are such a time waster, for example.Quote:
Originally Posted by saje
Step daughter is an MD and she is very happy. They are in a small town with 5 MDs that also serve an on-call hospital.
Doctors that complain of government interference in their private practice are right.
Right now, for most they do, Medicare sets the prices, then insurances, that doctors used to trade patients for cost breaks, traded in the free market, are now just paying, say, 10% over Medicare's rock bottom prices and not leaving doctors any bargaining power any more.
Doctors are becoming employees of the health care system, not independent contractors running their own business any more.
When you add to that that many patients end up not paying anyway, to run a doctor's office or clinic is becoming a losing proposition and that means many lost jobs, not just the doctor's job and less doctors for patients.
Yes, the world is changing and no one can foresee where to stand not to be washed away in the unintended consequences.
Changing paths with foresight is ok.
Rocking the boat and see who all gets thrown into the waters to sink or swim is not a good way to go running a country as large and diverse as the USA is.
I hope cool heads will prevail.
After all, presidents are not alone governing.;)
I work in a large academic hospital. The day Obamacare was signed into law there was cheering and happy tears and hugs. The day the Supreme Court upheld it, more of the same. From my perspective, bring it on! :)
I wonder how many would be for or against this same program if it had been called Romneycare?;)
So does my daughter...she saw the same reaction at her university hospital and another in Ohio during her summer research fellowship.Quote:
Originally Posted by jen-s
Bluey, it is Romneycare. Give it up. Election is over. Would I have preferred single payer? Absolutely. Obamacare IS the Republican plan.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluey
FWIW the AMA supports it, with some revisions
http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejap...s-into-reboot/
May try lightening up a bit.Quote:
Originally Posted by LauraKY
Even after winning, still can't take a joke?;)