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.
I agree with NLVgal in general and even repped her here but her question is off a bit. The public option has never actually been presented to have been shot down.
The public option was shot down before it ever hit the floor by our Congress critters who take big payola from the insurance and pharma lobbies. They promised to kill the bill if it contained a public option.
It gets worse. This isn't even a partisan thing. The republicans were just about ready to sign off on Medicare for everyone back in Bill Clinton's tenure. Then HRC was put in charge and met up with some lobbyists from the industry. The abortion of a bill that was produced had no chance of passing.
I've been an internist for almost 40 years, and now and again have had mid-levels working with or under me. IME a good quality mid-level can handle most all general/office non-emergent medical encounters.
Supply will remain constant, since the number of doctors in any given population is finite.
Government may attempt to lower qualifications, to increase the number of doctors, but that would result in higher death and injury rates, increasing the costs of medical care.
Supply will have to keep up if current HC providers cannot expand the HC reach of what they presently do. That supply will include more new docs, coming from more and expanded medical school slots, as well as more mid-level HC providers like NP's and PA's.
I haven't seen significantly more medical/surgical disasters due to mid-levels, primarily because they tend to work on less urgent stuff. I worked with them directly in the '80's and '90's and they would refer patients on up to me when the situation warranted it. We never encountered any disaster causing screw ups where they did not refer.
I did not approve of their use in our hospital and ER. I was voted down, yet the consensus of their competence has been favorable all along. A few bad eggs, but same with docs.
Greater demand causes supply to go up. Economics 101.
But the astronomical cost of medical school doesn't help to expand the supply.
$200,000 average cost to go to medical school in the US vs $50,000 in Canada and Europe.
That is on top of the $100,000 or more you paid for your US undergrad degree.
You must have slept through or never taken any Economics class.
I am also a Canadian, it takes a lot more than $50,000 to become a doctor in Canada!
If you get sick and can't afford it, we all pay for it. Honestly, I am glad to do so. Sorry, but I can't believe the selfish attitude and the me, me, me, attitude.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yellowsnow
I pay for your kids to attend school even though I had no part in their birth or your decision to have children. I didn't ask you to have them or forbid you from having them. I didn't cause them to be born and yet I pay for their education.
We all subsidize others. We are part of a society.
LOL! It's very dishonest for you to say this. Please don't insult people's intelligence. You have ZERO intention to pay.
If you did, you and your cronies would have pooled your money together voluntarily and create a charity fund to fund free health care.
You must have slept through or never taken any Economics class.
I am also a Canadian, it takes a lot more than $50,000 to become a doctor in Canada!
You silly wabbit! You have no business commenting on American healthcare when you have the safety net of retreating to the Canadian system if disaster strikes! Lol!
As part of my compensation when I work, I receive employer sponsored health insurance. My employer pays part of the premium that would otherwise come to me in the form of wages or other benefits, or kept by him to invest as he saw fit, to a for profit insurance company that is publicly traded on Wall Street.
I also pay part of the insurance premium, using my wages that I would otherwise spend, donate or invest elsewhere. My employer must offer this benefit in order to remain competitive in terms of attracting competent employees. It is even mandated to a certain degree, depending on your state and the size of your company.
Now, why should we be forced to buy this product from a for-profit corporation that in turn does business with huge for-profit hospital corporations, and restricts my use of practitioners to their contracted panels?
Can anyone please explain to me why the public option in Obamacare, where my employer could have paid premiums into a Medicare for everyone type system instead of subsidizing some other CEOs multi million dollar salary, was shot down?
I have no AMTRAK where I live, why am I subsidizing that?
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.
