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That is not a reason not to have some form of universal access. We need to work on the supply problem.
You can get an NP in two years if you already have a BSN. If you have to pay the entire cost in student loans, it would be about $70K. There are lots of traineeships available for NPs, and student loans can be forgiven if you work in certain areas, for non-profit organizations, etc. I think it would be great to have more NPs.
No. Under a government run public option pigs will fly before doctors are allowed to make the medical decisions without government interference.
Every health care system with third party payers has people making decisions about what will be reimbursed. IMO, insurance companies suck! That is a professional nursing opinion.
1. The number of doctors surveyed was 2,130 physicians. There are over a million doctors practicing in the United States. So we are to extrapolate the opinion of less than 1% of all physicians in the United States? Interesting
2. The physicians were not RANDOMLY and BLINDLY chosen which means bias is included. The physician were selected by the experimenters
3. The AMA only includes 17% of all physicians in the United States so they don't represent the majority of the physicians in the United States
So again what we have is an education issue.
I'd suggest you do some research in two areas:
Social Science Statistics.
The credibility of Ther New England Journal of Medicine.
Such basic info is quite easy to find and will clear up your current misconceptions.
The reason there is a shortage of primary care physicians involves several reasons. They are unfairly not reimbursed well for their visits. A specialist is reimbursed more for their visit and most specialists do procedures which pay more as well. As long as Medicare chooses to stiff PCP's, it's going to be a struggle to get medical students to go into those fields
There are other reasons. The public doesn't treat primary care doctors with the same respect as they do with specialists. They falsely believe that PCP doctors are less intelligent because they couldn't specialize. The #1 person in my class chose to do family medicine. They don't realize that talented people choose Primary Care fields because it offers a better lifestyle and they enjoy interacting with patients. Many surgical fields and even highly specialized fields don't provide that same sense of intimacy or that physician-patient relationship that primary care fields afford.
Lastly, PCP's do a lot of work. I feel like lucky that I just get to manage a patient's cardiac issues. I have many friends who general internists and they are managing several more issues, spend longer office visits and get paid less than me for each of their visits. This is why people avoid these fields. Medicare could change all of that through higher reimbursement. But of course Obama would rather continue feeding the trial attorneys an reduce PCP pay even more through socialized medicine. And his answer is hilarious. He would rather give them free tuition through some govt. program and cost them 2-3 million dollars worth of salary over a lifetime in exchange for 250K.
I never thought about the way you explained it but you are right. I had that perception as well (a general was not as good). But in reality, I found some of the best doctor are a general (PCP). As an example my wife had 15 trips to find an intermittent side pain. A lonely PCP figured it out on a general visit when he asked her if anything else was wrong and she figured "what the heck, I'll ask this guy". I commended him 10 times over for his feat and exceptional problem solving skills. My wife had all kinds of specialists look it over the years. My common sense PCP knew what it was before the ultrasound.
Re: this whole 45% controversy... I'll bet specialists are LESS fond of Obama care MORE that PCP's. PCP's may not be as fiscally motivated. The process began in Med school when you decided to look at which discipline you want.
The bottom line is people say "let them quit" as they are in it for the wrong reason. HUH?? EVERYONE goes to work for money. But they choose a career because of hours/flexibility, what the job work is like, etc. One reason is $$'s but there are several others including work load. And if someone went into dermatology because they liked the lack of odd hours and the high pay, some say they are also in it for the wrong reasons???? OF COURSE YOU CHOOSE YOUR CAREER FOR PAY!
If the government decides that all they will pay for a procedure is X and it costs 20% higher than X, don't call someone greedy. Like azriverfan says (he is a Doc), they are not getting a fair rate.
The people on this forum who are making that average salary assume doctors make a ton of money. If you are in the top 5% of brain power and highly motivated, you are going to do much better than average. If you are smart enough to choose a career that requires a lot of skill WITH brain power and motivation, $200K + is common place. This country has opportunities to make a great income if you are willing to outperform that average guy which frankly, is pretty darn easy. As I tell my Kid's often, you DON'T want to be "average".
So for all of you "let them quit" summaries, I hear a little jealousy in your voice. Before you deny it, at least part of it is true. Unfortunately, it's human nature for some people to like to see others fall.
The credibility of Ther New England Journal of Medicine.
Such basic info is quite easy to find and will clear up your current misconceptions.
I know that this isn't your view.
The beauty of statistics is it is a well understood discipline. If you asked over 2000 people, it's the same as asking every person (with a very small margin of error).
BUT!!! If you did a bad job of sampling or asking a leading question, then the problem is with the poller. For instance, if you only asked specialists; only doctors from MA which has a state run system you would not have accurate result with the poll. As everyone knows, you can ask a question or a sequence of questions that can heavily skew the results. That will rest on the person setting up the questions.
At the core. We need to ask this basic question. If you were a Doc and predicted that our government was getting involved (with 45M more patience), would you think that was a good thing for your quality of life?? Quality of life as in hours worked, pay, stress, the risk of making more errors because of stress and getting sued?? And would it be shocking to learn that a Doc said to a pollster "I'd consider quitting the profession"! They have heard horror stories from Canada, Europe etc. From DOCTORS in Canada, Europe Etc not crap that we all just read about.
For me, it would expect about 1/2 of them to be upset and figure they might want to have a new set of problems (aka switching jobs or retiring). It's called being DEMOTIVATED. That doesn't mean 1/2 of them WILL quit. When I think about job demotivating experiences, I think about quitting. If I stay there, I sure in the H_ll don't do as good of a job if I am trapped.
It's really simple. I don't want a demotivated doctor. I just hope the system will allow people who are willing and able pay more chose the motivated doctors. I'll be buying that plan.
Does anyone have any evidence that the government will interfere with doctors and their patients under a public option?
I actually want to see facts instead of speculation.
Are docs who treat Medicare and Medicaid patients told exactly what they can and can't do by the government?
Who would you rather have as a doctor? A doctor who is concerned primarily about your HEALTH or a doctor who is primarily concerned about his PROFIT margin? I'd prefer the former myself. If your doctor is in it for the money, I'd find another doctor. Profit and greed is not what healthcare should be about!
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EVERYONE goes to work for money. But they choose a career because of hours/flexibility, what the job work is like, etc. One reason is $$'s but there are several others including work load. And if someone went into dermatology because they liked the lack of odd hours and the high pay, some say they are also in it for the wrong reasons???? OF COURSE YOU CHOOSE YOUR CAREER FOR PAY! 
As I tell my Kid's often, you DON'T want to be "average".
profit or quality care
