Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When did this all happen? When people stopped working for free and deserve the pay for the services they performed... nobody asked you to stop receiving a paycheck so I can have a bigger house... and I doubt you would be willing to work for free either..
No one is saying doctors don't deserve to get paid for their services. But they don't deserve $350 or $750 for a few minutes of their time without actually doing anything (the latter was the amount I paid for a "consultation" with an endocrinologist about ten years ago. Oh, she did some blood tests, too.)
"Usual and Prevailing" does not equal "Reasonable."
And then they often own an interest in specialty testing centers, like for bone density and mammograms, that they send you to if they know you have insurance, even if there is probably no real need for you to have those tests. This is nothing but greed.
Doctors and nurses treat patients for free everyday whether you are talking about being called to admit uninsured patients in the ER or seeing patients on Medicaid and waiving or absorbing costs so that the patient can be seen.
What people don't like to talk about is irresponsibility that many Americans have with regard to health insurance. A lot of these uninsured patients are not poor. Many of them are people in their 20's who lack health insurance because they are healthy and figured they didn't need it and decided to risk going without health insurance. Otherse are people who cheat the system. I can tell you that I see AT LEAST one medicaid patient a day who has an i-phone, a Coach bag or another nice purse and drives a BMW yet they scam the government by underreporting their income to qualify for Medicaid. Everyday, my nurses ask if we should report those patients but we don't beause our concern is for their health and not to play investigator.
No, doctors and nurses do NOT treat patients for free. We, the taxpayers, are saddled with the bill for indigent care. That's where one of the big savings will come from health care reform. Everyone will have coverage, care providers will have to accept what that coverage pays for a particular service or cater exclusively to the uber wealthy who can pay as they go (like that's ever going to happen). There is no free health care in the US, including charities that claim to provide care for free - they write their costs off and cover costs through donations (or, rather, what little most of them contribute to service from their donations, which isn't much for most charities).
When did a patient's basic rights to receive and appropriate level of healthcare become solely based on money? When did all of the ethical and moral obligations, the whole Hippocratic Oath, become obsolete? When someone who has become, through no fault of their own, disabled and unable to work or care for themselves, why are they denied any compassion within the healthcare system?
When did it become okay to force someone work without pay?
When did a patient's basic rights to receive and appropriate level of healthcare become solely based on money? When did all of the ethical and moral obligations, the whole Hippocratic Oath, become obsolete? When someone who has become, through no fault of their own, disabled and unable to work or care for themselves, why are they denied any compassion within the healthcare system?
At the emergency room, NO ONE can be turned away. Likewise, when on call, you cannot refuse ANYONE due to payor class. ANYONE can get urgent/emergent healthcare, regardless of whether you have insurance or not. Those patients can rack up several hundred thousand dollars in costs, none of which will ever be recovered.
For non-urgent issues, we have this little thing called "overhead". I personally have $850K of overhead per year just to keep our doors open. If we accepted patients with no insurance (treating for nothing), we would go bankrupt in a couple of months. Do you have the right to go into a car dealership and demand a free car? Do you pay for food, heat, and electricity?
Keep in mind that physician's salaries account for only 8% of healthcare costs. Advances in technology and improved drugs are expensive.
No one is saying doctors don't deserve to get paid for their services. But they don't deserve $350 or $750 for a few minutes of their time without actually doing anything (the latter was the amount I paid for a "consultation" with an endocrinologist about ten years ago. Oh, she did some blood tests, too.)
"Usual and Prevailing" does not equal "Reasonable."
And then they often own an interest in specialty testing centers, like for bone density and mammograms, that they send you to if they know you have insurance, even if there is probably no real need for you to have those tests. This is nothing but greed.
That $350 - $750 is paying for receptionists, nurses, rent, utilities, equipment, malpractice insurance, student loans, etc and that is only in a private practice. If it is a hospital you have all of that plus admin, covering the uninsured and more.
When did a patient's basic rights to receive and appropriate level of healthcare become solely based on money? When did all of the ethical and moral obligations, the whole Hippocratic Oath, become obsolete? When someone who has become, through no fault of their own, disabled and unable to work or care for themselves, why are they denied any compassion within the healthcare system?
Wow wrong question
For all of human history your ability to recieve medical care has been based on your ability to pay. This whole idea of requiring hospitals or doctors to treat no matter what is. . .maybe 50-25 years depending on country.
When did a patient's basic rights to receive and appropriate level of healthcare become solely based on money? When did all of the ethical and moral obligations, the whole Hippocratic Oath, become obsolete? When someone who has become, through no fault of their own, disabled and unable to work or care for themselves, why are they denied any compassion within the healthcare system?
You don't have a "right" to healthcare.
Someone invested BILLIONS of dollars producing life saving drugs.
Many people have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars becoming surgeons and other medical specialists.
I hear that al gore, john kerry, nancy pelosi and the clintons have a lot of money.....perhaps you can convince some of these leftie millionaires to share their wealth?
Someone invested BILLIONS of dollars producing life saving drugs.
Many people have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars becoming surgeons and other medical specialists.
I hear that al gore, john kerry, nancy pelosi and the clintons have a lot of money.....perhaps you can convince some of these leftie millionaires to share their wealth?
America is the only nation on this planet that argues against human compassion of providing medical care for the poor! How pathetic!
When did a patient's basic rights to receive and appropriate level of healthcare become solely based on money? When did all of the ethical and moral obligations, the whole Hippocratic Oath, become obsolete? When someone who has become, through no fault of their own, disabled and unable to work or care for themselves, why are they denied any compassion within the healthcare system?
Because the people who deliver health care, from doctors to admin types, have BILLS to PAY.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
