How Common Is This With Single Payer? (salary, health care, regular)

[Motion]

How common is this situation in countries that have universal single-payer insurance systems?

B.C. doctors take Friday off

Doctors stayed away from work and hospitals cancelled elective surgery and brought in extra emergency room staff.

Almost 6,000 doctors closed their offices, protesting against a $70 million shortfall in the province's health care budget.

The premier says the physicians are asking for a massive salary increase. The doctors deny that.

Doctors say they end up working for free because they don't get paid for billings once the government's budget cap of $1.4-billion is met.

CBC News - B.C. doctors take Friday off

[HappyTexan]

Well they didn't exactly give a number for this "massive" demand so I won't form an opinion.

[scottmac112]

Well, I can see how this situation can repeat itself similarly. That's why single payer is a problem. If you can't or don't get your money out of that single payer, you get no money for your services. That is not right. Doctors should be paid for their services, which is why privatized, multiple-payer healthcare must continue in this country.

[Motion]

Are we seeing something similar with the U.S medicare system,which is a single payer system on a smaller scale for seniors,where some doctors are refusing to handle medicare patients because they aren't being fully paid for their work?

[scottmac112]

Originally Posted by Motion

Are we seeing something similar with the U.S medicare system,which is a single payer system on a smaller scale for seniors,where some doctors are refusing to handle medicare patients because they aren't being fully paid for their work?

Good point. Which is why the medicare system should and must be reformed to eliminate fraud, and get it back to its main purpose: providing for healthcare for senior citizens.

[golfgod]

Motion wrote;

U.S medicare system,which is a single payer system on a smaller scale for seniors

Single payer and government-Medicare are NOT the same thing. Actually a huge number or medicare patients are on medicare supplements, which are private insurance.

BTW, my wife was on a medicare supplement until the rates went up so high that she was paying more for it than she had paid when she was on my (I'm self employed) company policy. She dropped to just the regular medicare system this year as her Doc accepts, actually prefers straigt up medicare reimbursement.

golfgod