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Not necessarily. The ER has the right to deny them care if it's not life threatening. Few do, yes, it's true. But does the ER give flu shots? Not usually, except for its own employees. Does the ER do routine well child care? Will they follow you for high blood pressure? Do a pap? Do a skin check for melanoma? A colonscopy?
Why do people think acute care is all there is to health care?
Because people with no insurance don't typically go for preventative care.
Doctor Shortage Likely to Worsen With Health Law (That's the title of the article.)
Those two words don't mean the same thing. Nice, misleading thread title, yet again.
Some would call it trolling. Oh well, troll away. What's next? Obama re-election is the end of days?
PS. There's not enough doctors now, there won't be enough, then - unless we import some.
Oh please don't say that or even wish it........... I have been there, and they don't get it. It's just like calling a on line tech from any other country......
In person now, I can only imagine some very long needles and a lot of something in a pot making smoke!
Because its the most expensive. And yeah, some ER's will do those things if you show up (to avoid lawsuits if something was wrong with you), and the cycle continues.
I'm not saying it was the sole reason healthcare costs have increased on their own, but its the biggest piece of the pie. Uninsured folks getting free care, on the tax payer dime. Preventative care is much less expensive to the tax payer, and saves from the costly acute care.
Tell me one hospital ER that will do a well-child check if you "show up". They might take your blood pressure if you asked them to. Preventive care is not always cheap. Immunizations can run several hundred dollars a dose. Yes, cheaper, usually than treating the diseases they prevent, but not what you'd call "cheap". Not to mention, there are illnesses other than acute illness as well. Will an ER monitor a diabetic, do the diet teaching, etc? I'd guess the most they would do is check a blood sugar and maybe give a dose of insulin and a prescription.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan
Because people with no insurance don't typically go for preventative care.
No, they don't. Nor do they always go for say, a sore throat. But they might show up when that sore throat, which was actually strep, turns into Scarlet Fever, or rheumatic heart or kidney disease.
Tell me one hospital ER that will do a well-child check if you "show up". They might take your blood pressure if you asked them to. Preventive care is not always cheap. Immunizations can run several hundred dollars a dose. Yes, cheaper, usually than treating the diseases they prevent, but not what you'd call "cheap". Not to mention, there are illnesses other than acute illness as well. Will an ER monitor a diabetic, do the diet teaching, etc? I'd guess the most they would do is check a blood sugar and maybe give a dose of insulin and a prescription.
No, they don't. Nor do they always go for say, a sore throat. But they might show up when that sore throat, which was actually strep, turns into Scarlet Fever, or rheumatic heart or kidney disease.
Why would anyone go to a ER for a check up? it is far cheaper to make an appointment to the clinic and get a check up. That might cost under 100 bucks, and the other way will cost in the thoudands and I know this is true because i got real sick and went to a ER...
I was just so sick that thinking was not something I could do...
Yes, the nightmare scenario that many warned about is going to come to pass. There is also the prospect of thousands of doctors leaving the profession once Obamacare takes effect -- unwilling to deal with reduced Medicare payments and red tape.
And what is true today will be true in a few years when Obamacare takes effect: If you're rich enough to afford a gold plated policy, you will likely have no trouble finding a physician to treat you. Health care for the average American is not going to get better, it is going to get worse. And we have Obamacare to thank for that.
Well, then... we will need the federal government to step in here and take over the educating, training and employment practices of the medical profession
Well, then... we will need the federal government to step in here and take over the educating, training and employment practices of the medical profession
LOL I bet the poor doctors will be lucky to get jobs flippin burgers at Micky Dee's.... NOT....
Well................
Here is the sad facts. Many of us physicians who are over 50 (myself included) have the financial resources to quit medicine and simply live off the interest of what we have acquired over time. Younger physicians do not have that luxury. I can quit any time I want, but I still like practicing. I know of very few docs who have the financial resources to "retire" who do so simply because the can do so. We did not train and work all that time for nothing. There is a sense of satisfaction that comes with doing a job well done.
However, the average age of a physician (average) is 51. MOST of us have the ability to simply quit, should reimbursement become too egregious. When would that occur?
1. If reimbursement fell to the point that one was making less than $100K per year. Why? Given that most of us work 80 hour weeks and have adequate resources, this would simply not make sense to work. Medicine is interesting, but it is hard work.
2. If reimbursement fell to the point that one was simply meeting overhead. Most practices have a 45% overhead. If you cut reimbursement 50%, you are essentially working for free. You WOULD BE better off flipping burgers. However, keep in mind that physicians are people who achieved nearly straight "A" GPAs in high school and college and would figure out SOMETHING that would be better worth their time.
3. Obamacare is essentially medicaid. My practice only takes medicaid under special circumstances. I can say that MOST of those I acquire are discharged due to multiple "no shows", "cancellations", lack of compliance, or threatening the staff. We end up getting rid of nearly every medicaid patient we take on, as they are terrible patients. We do not have to take Obamacare patients, and I certainly will not. I do not want disruptive, non compliant patients in my practice. Who will take them? County hospitals and emergency rooms.
4. Most of us in medicine are in the field because we like science. However, we will not work for free- no one would. Further, VERY FEW would agree to train 13-14 years after high school for their career. We made economic and social sacrifices in training that many would not do, even if they held the academic credentials to do so. This is not a field in which anyone can achieve the academic and work load standards demanded by routine practice.
5. markedly fewer physicians and more ancillary providers. Okay with a PA or Nurse Practitioner and not seeing a physician? Then Obamacare may be right for you. Many people are actually okay with that and one simply needs to make these decisions. Want a specialist? Wait in line. Could that wait kill you? Who cares- it does not make economic sense to the US AS A WHOLE and only makes sense TO YOU. Obamacare is not about the individual patient, it is about what the government wants.
Obamacare will not kill medicine. My daughter is a pre-med and I tell her to keep going. Those who enjoy science and do not mind chatting with patients will do fine (she will have no debt- those who have the average med school debt will be SOL). However, if reimbursement comes to the point that physicians cannot pay overhead or their educational debts, then they will leave the field en-masse. Recruiting foreign doctors will not help if they cannot meet their overhead. Obamacare, if kept in place, will certainly reduce the QUALITY of medicine in the US. What will happen? More ancillary providers, fewer physicians, less "cutting edge" technology, less innovative drugs. In short- rationed and reduced quality of care. If this is what the US wants, they will get it. Do I believe that we can cut costs now and not reduce quality? Yes- every physician knows what to do, but Obamacare does none of that and simply adds costs, reduced access, and diminished quality of care. It is the wrong "solution" for those who want quality health care, but is the "right solution" for those who want government control of healthcare.
Keep in mind that physicians account only for 8% of total healthcare expenses. The continual demands for declining reimbursement to physicians is misdirected and misguided.
Last edited by hawkeye2009; 07-29-2012 at 04:36 PM..
hawkeye, I think you misread me...... I basicly was saying doctors could just up and quit and not really miss a thing... Perhaps there is some value explaining to me as others will now know a doctor spoke up.
Each proffesion is subject to the too much BS rule, which will get the expert in a field plain old down the road.
Probably new younger doctors would just take another educational loan and become something else where the pay is as good and perhaps the hours are less.
I fer sartin' would not expect to find any real doctors flippin burgers in a Micky Dee's! That place serves nuthin' but pure poision, and I haven't placed a moccasin in one in better than 15 years.
I do have one thing you don't have,,,,, a decade LOL
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