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....these docs are now picking and choosing what they want to do, it's all about CYA, etc. makes me SICK just to see these people in action. So, yes, it's a short hop to saying, I won't treat obese people, I won't treat pain patients (uh, that already happens in 99% of the cases these days), and so on and so forth.
Why do you think that happens? And whose responsibility are obesity and unhealthy habits?
Why do you think that happens? And whose responsibility are obesity and unhealthy habits?
Where's the cut off point on doctors refusing to treat unhealthy habits? (and btw, I'm not obese nor do I smoke in case you're wondering). I'm just wondering where this line of thought takes us. I think it's a slippery slope that takes us to a point of insanity. Why don't dentists refuse to treat dental problems caused by smoking, drinking or drugs. As far as I know, they treat the condition and alleviate the pain/suffering regardless of how it got that way. I'm the first to confess, I'm pretty bad about flossing....had decay and lost a tooth. Maybe the dentist should kick me out for my bad habit. No flossing? GET OUT! as you can see, it gets stupid and asinine when taken to the ultimate conclusion. To answer your question about whose responsibility are obesity and unhealthy habits....in my view, doctors are responsible to EDUCATE patients and assist them in changing those habits when or if they can. When they cannot, their job is to alleviate whatever health problems those bad habits cause, period. And btw, if they start kicking out all the patients with bad health habits, I think they'll start seeing quite a decline in their paychecks because healthy people don't need docs. Kinda putting themselves out of business, eh? Somehow, I don't think they want a healthy population, they just want to pick and choose and CYA from a legal standpoint certain patients, so it gets back to the doctor doing what's most advantageous for the doctor, not the patient's "health". I'm in no way advocating that people continue unhealthy habits, I"m just questioning this growing concept on the part of docs that "they don't have to" treat people if "they don't want to". I understand why insurance companies don't insure certain groups of people, but doctors are supposed to have a humanitarian impetus for doing what they do. What happened to going into medicine to help people. It's become a situation where the doctor can now "fire" or "refuse" a patient if they so choose. I never heard of such a thing 30 yrs ago....and I hope YOU don't ever develop a condition or situation where your doc erroneously decides to "fire" you because of some CYA legal issue or just doesn't happen to want to spend the time/effort to treat you. This insidious mindset affects all of us, regardless.....that's my only point.
I'm sure you can make a case for kicking out all the smokers and obese people and putting them on their own to deal with their self-inflicted bad habits which cost trillions (uh, that's not what costs trillions, it's the out of control gov. mess), but if you pick out two habits that lead to large expenditures, you can't stop there, you'll have to kick out a lot of other people too. Where does it end?
Unlike hospitals who count on cash paying customers to offset low reimbursment rates, most doctors will give cash paying customers a good discount.
Actually, most hospitals will give you a discount for paying cash as well. In addition, most hospitals are either private non-profit or government run.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimMe
I think most people could pay cash for routine health care. And purchase a policy just to cover non-routine care.
Just what do you consider "routine" care? Do you have a clue how much a well-baby visit plus immunizations costs? The visit itself, in my area, is about $120, the IZs can run up to $100 EACH. Some babies get 4-5 IZ per visit. A baby needs a well check and IZs at 2,4,6,9,12,15 and 18 months.
I think most people could pay cash for routine health care. And purchase a policy just to cover non-routine care.
Hmmm....presumably if EVERY doctor accepted cash or debit/credit cards.
They wouldn't need to hire staff to deal with insurance companies and could afford to offer lower prices as a result.
I'm not sure if we'd see savings on CT scans and lab work. That equipment isn't exactly cheap.
From what I've been reading about cash-only docs, some of them work out agreements with labs to get lower rates for CT scans, X-rays, etc. which is good.
LOL! I have a friend who just started at $175k/year. Guess what, he got a free medical school education as long as he agreed to practice in a rural area for a few years. What a socialist!
This guy's age 30, with an income well into the 6 figures with no debt and taking advantage of a gov't program. Funny thing is, this guy is the one of the biggest right wingers I've ever met. Takes advantage of a "socialist" program and then wants no one else to benefit from the same type of thing. Unbelievable.
There is no such thing as a Medicare doctor. This will affect ALL doctors because private insurance base their payments to doctors on how much Medicare pays. So a 25% reduction in reimbursement from Medicare means it's essentially a 25% reduction in how physicians will be paid because all the private insurance companies will follow suit.
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".
It's called living above their means and taking out loans. I'm a doctor and I don't live in a large house and I drive a Hyundai. A lot of doctors can get great loans when they finish residency and many will buy a large house and a car even though they still have medical school loans, and a loan to buy a practice or buy a partnership into one. How are they different than most Americans who were buying homes and cars they couldn't afford?
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