Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-06-2010, 01:27 PM
 
9,855 posts, read 10,396,009 times
Reputation: 2881

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by XodoX View Post
Docs have been complaining about " we got no money" ever since I can remember. But just look at the homes they own, the cars they drive etc... They are "rich people broke", not "average American broke".
That is quite naive of you. Doctors are small business owner who bring jobs to their communities.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-06-2010, 01:33 PM
 
9,855 posts, read 10,396,009 times
Reputation: 2881
Quote:
Originally Posted by InformedConsent View Post
Yes, that is what you said:



He said he can't afford to continue to treat old people. He did not say the national policy should be to withhold medical treatments from old people.
People need to realize that the disabled are also Medicare patients.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-06-2010, 01:37 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
8,998 posts, read 14,762,991 times
Reputation: 3550
Quote:
Originally Posted by little elmer View Post
I talked to my podiatrist a while back about this, and he said the good times are over, with insurance companies and Medicare dictating what they'll pay for and taking forever to pay even that.
Hence why many doctors are going to cash only or are considering it.
I could see why primary care docs would do this but specialists make plenty of money with insurance and Medicare payments.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-06-2010, 02:01 PM
 
8,598 posts, read 9,093,828 times
Reputation: 5934
My wife's pain specialist has told me numerious times she's had enough and will retire soon. Her main complaint? Insurance reimbursement. Luckily we pay cash now.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-06-2010, 02:11 PM
 
486 posts, read 1,032,709 times
Reputation: 322
I work at a hospital...I'd love to make what docs make. Most of the ones I know (and I have 3 in my family) live extremely good lifestyles. However, I've never met a bigger bunch of complainers (not all of them, mind you) in my life and to top it off, they now complain about their income? I'm not cryin' for ya doctors.

Physician Salaries - Salary Surveys

Survey of Surveys : MD Salaries 2008 (USA) at MDsalaries - The Physician Salaries Blog
(http://mdsalaries.blogspot.com/2009/07/survey-of-surverys-md-salaries-2008.html - broken link)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-06-2010, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Central Maine
4,697 posts, read 6,434,647 times
Reputation: 5046
Quote:
Originally Posted by InformedConsent View Post
"Schreiber sees 120 patients a week. About 30% of them are enrolled directly in Medicare, while another 65% have private insurance plans that peg their payments on Medicare's rates. Only 5% pay on their own.
That's the part that I don't understand, and that isn't explained in the article.

30% Medicare - that's clear.

65% private insurance plans that peg their payments on Medicare's rates - is that like a Medicare Advantage plan? Or something else? And if he really means Medicare Advantage, does that mean that 95% of his patients are age 65 or older??

5% pay on their own - is that really direct payment from the patient, or does it include private insurance that isn't pegged to Medicare rates?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-06-2010, 02:31 PM
 
9,855 posts, read 10,396,009 times
Reputation: 2881
Most commercial insurance companies now pay based on Medicare rates, a small percentage above the Medicare allowable. Some of the Medicare Advantage Plans like Physicians Health Choice actually pay below the Medicare rate.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-06-2010, 02:33 PM
 
9,855 posts, read 10,396,009 times
Reputation: 2881
Unlike hospitals who count on cash paying customers to offset low reimbursment rates, most doctors will give cash paying customers a good discount.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-06-2010, 03:30 PM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,772 posts, read 104,433,328 times
Reputation: 49248
Quote:
Originally Posted by jetgraphics View Post
Actually, many are far beyond "broke" - as in deeply in debt. Few physicians exit the med school in pristine economic shape. As you can imagine, a licensed physician has ample opportunity to indebt himself to start or enter a practice. And many are burdened with the cost to start that new household, with a "nice house" and "nice car"... on credit.

So I do recognize that health care professionals are cash poor - once all the usury and socialist overhead is factored in.
I agree 110%. I wonder if people realize how much their education costs or how much it cost to run an office?

Nita
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-06-2010, 04:19 PM
 
9,408 posts, read 11,906,379 times
Reputation: 12439
Sure, there are specialists making a lot of money. But primary care or family physicians don't really make a lot, especially after insurance and overhead costs. But, they still had to go deeply in debt and give up many years of their life to get into those positions. They deserve to be well compensated. I don't blame them for dropping medicare patients. They have to draw the line somewhere.

Knowing that I'll one day need medicare, it scares me to see this trend. But I don't blame the docs. I blame the morons in DC.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:24 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top