Health care is neither a right nor a privilege … it’s a service. Like any other service, it needs to be paid for. Doctors, nurses, technicians, pharma reps, janitors, scientists, and even the construction crews that build medical facilities all expect to be paid for their work. Crazy, I know.
Of course people are generally decent and don’t mind taking on the occasional pro-bono case for someone that really needs care but doesn’t have any realistic way to pay for it, but overall, everyone has to bills to pay, so doctors have to charge people. After all, medical school isn’t exactly cheap.
Now that the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare and effectively enacted the biggest tax increase on the middle class in history, some 32 million Americans will soon be forced to purchase health insurance. It’s ok though, because it’s not a mandate that violates our personal freedom of choice; it’s just a tax.
Who exactly is going to treat all these new patients? We are increasing the demand for health services at the same time that the supply of those services is dwindling. Fewer people are choosing to go into medicine these days, and really, can you blame them? Hey, you know what sounds fun? Intensive study and training for a decade or more to go into a high-pressure field where you’re not allowed to charge what your services are worth.
A funny thing happens when the government says medical practitioners can only charge certain people certain amounts, and those amounts don’t cover their costs. They have to make it up elsewhere, by raising the rates of everyone else. Then guess what happens? They have to stop accepting Medicare and Medicaid patients altogether. Not because they want to, but because they’ll go out of business if they don’t.
A physician shortage in the U.S. was expected even before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Now the group estimates that there will be a shortage of 63,000 doctors by 2015 and 130,600 by 2025.
So, yay Obamacare! Everyone has health insurance now! Reminder: Health insurance does not equal health care. Be prepared for longer waits, hasty service, and the dreaded rationing. It’s not just a Republican scare tactic -- it’s a fact.
Image via rosmary/Flickr
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Comments 43
I'm going to form an opinion here, based on nothing but my own observation.
I would personally blame the incredibly high cost of medical school.
Look how many more FOREIGN dr.s we have here. There are only 2-3 american dr.s in my children's local Kaiser pediatricians office. Out of 15? Maybe 20? 3 americans.
Why?
Because its easier to become a dr in other countries, then come over here, take a year or 2 of "american med school" then practice medicine here.
Look how high our college rates are, and how much in debt most grads are in with student loans. Sure, there's low income help for some, an there's community college for pre-requisites, but the majority of students who have the smarts, and determination to be a dotor or surgeon, SIMPLY CAN'T AFFORD IT.
I can't blame Obama for this one. The number of doctors has been steadily declining for YEARS, and so has the standard of care.
I'm not saying the higher standards are a BAD thing, but becoming a dr has a mile of senseless red tape, sprinkled with hoops to jump through.
Make it cheaper to be a dr, easier to get IN to med school, and we won't have such a shortage.
Oh, and cut all the major pharmaceutical sales bullshit. That's a whole seperate topic.
Or, since you specify getting a dr in the US, maybe you're not from here, and have universal healthcare? Our drs can bill the SHIT out of the universal healthcare system! Our hospitals love billing foreign insurance.
I have Tricare. It comes right out of my paycheck. It's the closest thing to socialized health care we got, and I love it. I don't have any co-pays. I see the doctor on the same day. Whatever I've requested, I've gotten, even expensive MRI's. The system works.
And med school is just as hard in other countries. But students start much earlier and they don't have the massive debt like you do here. That's why there's an abundance of foreign doctors.
4mutts - using your same logic and responding to hockeymomnj, I have never ever heard of anyone paying an annual membership to a dr office/clinic. So just because you are one person and it has apparently happened to you that doesn't mean it's a problem.
Billsfan - your logic would work if it didn't cost thousands upon thousands of $$ to to fix things when even simple issues with our bodies happen.
The bottom line is this:
The object of capitalized medicine is wealthy corporations.
The object of socialized medicine is healthy people.
Wealthy people want a dr at their beck-and-call, so they pay out the ass for it.