Obama care and Podiatry

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Cozell

Cozell

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I havent seen any post on this topic maybe I didnt look hard enough but 3 searches and this related topic link above what I am typing right now leads to no Pod threads on the subject.

The Supreme Courts rule on Obama Care or the "Affordable Health Care Act" is set to be released sometime this summer. This is a big deal for all Practicing Pods, Residents, Pod Students, and Pre Pods alike.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/slashing_doc_pay_QPgo179t8e1wg1QsAwBhUP

:thumbdown: This is pretty bad this article states that Primary care physician salary will go from $186,000 to $95,000 as it is in France and this is before TAXES. Since pods generally start out around 100-120k in Podiatry Practices imagine the hit new grads will take as well as experienced Pods in the field who will have to see a higher volume of patients ( around 1/3 more) just to come near their previous salaries.

OK, Sure money is not eveything but a New pod making $60,000 after residency before taxes is a sucide career move (Debt/bills/family/loans) just to make what a RN makes which by the way will likely take a hit as well. We are turining into Europe.

Am I over reacting here? Has this been diffused or something because it seems like to me if this has the effect it is slated to have we should ALL be talking about it and trying to stop it or is everyone just hoping/assuming it wont pass the Sup.Court.

Sorry for the lenght but I mean C'mon +pissed+
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I won't worry too much about it, it's a pure politics thing. Once the Republicans are back, the first thing they will do is to get rid of this nonsense Affordable Care. And keep in mind that Supreme Court is influenced by GOP, in fact 5/9 judges are appointed by Republican presidents. That is one reason why this bill has been delayed for a while.

Let's all hope that Romney wins the election. Put this all in the words of a podiatrist I shadowed, "no matter what Romney's plan is, it will always be better than Obama's." :rolleyes:
 
Cozell said:
a New pod making $60,000 after residency before taxes is a sucide career move (Debt/bills/family/loans) just to make what a RN makes which by the way will likely take a hit as well. We are turining into Europe.
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I think this sentence is the point. It WOULD be a suicide move for all primary care docs, and therefore, it won't happen. I am willing to bet that over 90% of doctors would not be doctors if it were not as lucrative as a career as it is/has been. The medical school admissions process is so competitive for this very reason - people want to make the big bucks. You take those big bucks away and you start looking at med school admissions stats like pod school stats and pod school stats significantly below a 20 on the MCAT. No one wants to have a society of stupid doctors, so I promise this will not happen. If somehow it does, then I promise it won't last very long. Doctors NEED to be compensated well as we NEED them to be the smartest, most dedicated and most motivated individuals in society. Our lives, literally, depend on that.

Note #1: If docs salary do take a 50% hit, WASSUP CHEMICAL ENGINEERING!

Note #2: You need to utilize punctuation/grammar.
 
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msion said:
Let's all hope that Romney wins the election. Put this all in the words of a podiatrist I shadowed, "no matter what Romney's plan is, it will always be better than Obama's." :rolleyes:
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But.... if Romney wins, then my boy Rand Paul can't run in 2016...... :(
 

I sure hope you guys are right. If doctor’s compensation takes a %50 hit thebest and the brightest will be finding careers elsewhere. The fact is that mostof the European countries that have these low compensation rates go directly tomedical school after high school. To alleviate the low salary even more thesedoctors don’t have to pay $100,000 + for their medical school, it is free.Check out the link.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/prescriptions/2009/09/lets_pay_doctor.html

To make matters worse on our end just striking down the act is only thefirst step, we still have to get rid or live with the Medicare expansion. MaybeI’m reading too much into this.

I would love nothing better than a career in medicine as a physician; I justcouldn’t really see myself as an engineer or something. The career of podiatryhas come a long way and this bill will likely put us back at square one especiallyif we are not considered primary care providers. (Anyone care to elaborate onthat sentiment).
 
Read the newest APMA News, there's a brief article and list of congressional sponsors for a bill on this topic (pretty sure, I didn't read that much into it)
 
The supreme court is 5/9 GOP majority, the problem is that almost all of them are octogenarians, meaning they will likely be replaced in the next 4-8 years, if Romney doesn't win, hello liberal supreme court, good bye gun rights, good by capitalism once and for all and hello socialized healthcare.
 



Not seeing the article you mentioned post a link if you'd like Max.

I would like to hear from any Practicing podiatrist or resident's evenstudents as to what you guys think about this.

Is there a solution in place that Podiatry as a profession could turn thisinto a positive if this bill actually passes? Maybe larger group practices withshortened patient contact to make up for this deficiency in volume. Is thateven realistic though, would a counterbalance through these methods even beattainable.

On the lighter side I'm willing to go 50 / 50 on a drive thru clinic patentfor whoever's down.




 
:)
 
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I doubt this is ever going to succeed...quality of Physicians would decrease alarmingly, as someone stated above and a great deal of those gun hoe'd about med/pod schools would persue PhD's instead.

Pod schools would have no choice but to lower their standards to those of chiroquackypractic schools...average acceptance 2.75GPA :laugh:

While med schools would have to be much more forgiving of gpa and mcat...lmao

It's all crap
 
Cozell said:
I would like to hear from any Practicing podiatrist or resident’s evenstudents as to what you guys think about this.
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Check out the recent thread on this topic in the Podiatric Residents & Physicians forums. It may not alleviate concerns but it's interesting reading...

Overall, my opinion is similar to Max's. If doctors aren't valued by society (are paid poorly), soon enough doctors won't be valuable, useful, or reliable and something will have to give.

I think things will work out. It may just get a little more confusing for a little while if we have to figure these ACOs out.
 
MaxillofacialMN said:
Here's the issue: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/apma/news_201206/#/28

Page twenty eight, if it doesn't redirect. Also, that's just for Medicaid i guess, like I said, I didn't read it closely.
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This is the main problem b/c it is a specific problem that has been snowballing for years whereas Obamacare consists of a bill 1,000+ pages that is full of uncertainties that only time will tell. The sustainable growth rate (SGR) aka the Medicare crisis, however, is a problem to any physician (MD, DO, DPM) who accepts Medicare patients, which will be a large portion of our patient base as pods.

The article basically says skyrocketing costs of healthcare have led to doctors spending too much of the government's money via Medicare, which is supposed to be adjusted each year by decreasing doctors' pay accordingly. The government understands the theme of this thread--continue to pay docs well or they will do something else--so they don't enforce the pay cuts as dictated via the SGR, and instead add it to "next year's bill" so to speak. So if the gov. actually decides to call in that "debt" they think docs owe them, we are looking at losing a quarter of our pay from Medicare patients with a stroke of a pen.

This is why everyone needs to get behind the APMA (and MDs behind the AMA b/c it affects us just the same). Talk to your APMSA delegates on how you can get involved.
 
Exoposee said:
This is why I switched to a MD program!

:D
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This will really only be of benefit to you if you are planning on taking a large percentage of Medicaid patients (incase you just read my previous article, I was then talking about Medicare and now am talking about Medicaid). The government recognizes DPMs as physicians under Medicare and reimburses equally, and has done so for 40 years, but we have yet to achieve that recognition under Medicaid. All the other big name insurance companies, from my understanding, reimburse equally as well, but I believe that varies by state.
 
Fluke88 said:
Check out the recent thread on this topic in the Podiatric Residents & Physicians forums. It may not alleviate concerns but it's interesting reading...

I think things will work out. It may just get a little more confusing for a little while if we have to figure these ACOs out.
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True, but ACOs are just one of many options. The federal government has set aside a $15 billion budget to research which method will work best to fix the problem. People can apply for grants, which come from this $15 billion pool, and try out their method. Ergo, tons of new payment ideas are being experiment with as we speak, and the one that can provide the government w/ the most data backing up the success of their method will prevail.

While the glory days of medicine are over, docs will still do well. We will just have to learn how to make money a new way (working whatever system decides our reimbursements in the near future).
 
Madura said:
True, but ACOs are just one of many options. The federal government has set aside a $15 billion budget to research which method will work best to fix the problem. People can apply for grants, which come from this $15 billion pool, and try out their method. Ergo, tons of new payment ideas are being experiment with as we speak, and the one that can provide the government w/ the most data backing up the success of their method will prevail.

While the glory days of medicine are over, docs will still do well. We will just have to learn how to make money a new way (working whatever system decides our reimbursements in the near future).
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I like what you've said at the bottom here. Doctors are smart people I just hope we can adapt quickly enough to avoid the destruction of our entire healthcare system.
 
Looks like the Supreme Court has upheld PPACA.
 
Ok I don't understand how they are going to cut the pay of doctors when it cost so much for them to go to school and for so long...I mean, I'm still going into pods, I don't care about the money, but now I am weary of finding a decent job offering in the future. Yep, Romney's got this in the bag.
 
Shinobiz11 said:
Ok I don't understand how they are going to cut the pay of doctors when it cost so much for them to go to school and for so long...I mean, I'm still going into pods, I don't care about the money, but now I am weary of finding a decent job offering in the future. Yep, Romney's got this in the bag.
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I think the lay person thinks that doctors make too much money. For instance, my parents have always said doctors make too much money until they realize what I have to do to become one. People don't think about the 8 years of education (Bachelors, DPM) cost, and also the 8 years of lost salary. Plus, residency you are paid just enough to get by with paying your student loans, so basically throw on another 3 years of lost income. So if you start working out of high school, you've got 11 more years of income. Plus, you don't really have to sacrifice as much as students pursuing a doctorate do. Also, docs have an important job of healing and should be compensated well to make sure they are the brightest in society.

If "capitalistic" USA gets "real" universal healthcare, we'll see a huge shift in quality of care and I think medical research will go down the drain, but time will tell (unfortunately).
 
Doctors are just scapegoats of the failing system, we know it, and politicians know it. I remembered studying the breakdown of healthcare costs, 33% is spent on hospital procedures and the associated costs of hospital operations. Another 9% is spent on nursing home, and more than 20% is spent on insurance companies alone. Besides, look at the ridiculous prices they charge on medications, I'm sure we'd save a billion if FDA were to approve imported drugs couple years ago. Those big pharm companies are the real ones taking advantage of the system.
 
I am still a little confused by all this, I have to admit. Isnt it true that medicaid does not recognize Podiatry, and as such no procedures can be paid for by medicaid to a Podiatrist? Is this bill not cutting funding to medicare, yet raising taxes to pay for subsidies, such as paying the insurance companies to cover high risk people? So while the states do not have to accept medicaid, which of course they will, Podiatrists do not get anything out of that pot? Will Pods be able to collect on these 'high risk' pools and government ran insurance markets? I do realize there will be more regulations on how Doctors operate ( not literally ), this I am not fond of. What about the "free" preventative care measures? Does that apply to us serving to salvage limbs in diabetics? Or are those funds only for 'physicians' who do colonoscopys and mamograms? While I like the idea of not working for free, meaning more insured patients, if they have medicaid or if we cannot collect on their insurance plans, what good does that do for me? What does this actually mean for us, this new law? How is it going to effect Podiatrists specifically? I do not like the "wait and see how good it will turn out to be" approach. I will definitely be looking into this but I dont know if I can one, even get my hands on the law let alone understand it, and two get my hands on the supreme court ruling and read it.
 
I am confused too. Everyone I ask, everywhere I look, nobody really knows what the direct implications are. However, the general consensus is that doc's salaries will drop. The podiatrists I shadow isn't happy about this and he does accept medicaid. Considering that podiatrists need to lobby more for their rights, I am feeling very pessimistic about the new developments.
 
I wouldn't worry about anything yet.

Lay people don't realize how life altering becoming any sort of doctor is. My Dad doesn't realize it, but he is starting to because of me explaining the process. My mom is a nurse so she fully does. It is a huge deal. You are essentially broke until you are ~30 years old and it is more difficult to start a family and settle down with a loved one, in my opinion. Not to mention the loans, the stress and headache of those 7 years of school/residency.

Anyways, I think that what you will eventually see happen is doctors taking pay cuts but having the government subsidize nearly all medical school tuition and fees. I think that we will start to see "hints" of in the near future and this will ultimately be how things end up.
 
We are ultimately going to lose personalized care/individualized care (every person is different) with this law being enacted. We will be forced into a one size fits all approach to medicine because the government chooses what it reimburses and what it doesn’t.

Doctors will lose money because Medicare only pays about.60cent to the dollar give or take a few pennies, not to mention them turning down certain treatments because they don’t know about the treatment(elimination of personalized medicine) which thus reduces our nation’s health entirely.

I agree with what you guys were saying as well about parents and others not knowing the sacrifice doctors must make on this journey. I told a girl at my job who asked what I was doing with my life , I told her I am majoring in Psych and want to go to podiatric medical school, (mind you sheknows I am 19)knowing this she then asked how do I like medical school so far :eek: :eek:….. fact is most people just don’t know aboutthe process or the length. So I told here No No No, I must do 3 more years ofundergrad then I will apply then go to school for 4 more years then do aresidency for 3 years, by then she thought I was an idiot for wanting to be a doc.
 
I think that Obamacare could be good for Doctors. To me It seems like more people with health insurance would help doctors because now if someone goes to the ER without insurance, the hospital has to treat that person, so the hospital & doctors don't get paid for that and lose money. However, if people are forced to have health insurance, at least Doctors would be getting something even if they're not getting fully reimbursed and insurance companies now don't even reimburse fully as it is.
 
Toro5050 said:
I think that Obamacare could be good for Doctors. To me It seems like more people with health insurance would help doctors because now if someone goes to the ER without insurance, the hospital has to treat that person, so the hospital & doctors don't get paid for that and lose money. However, if people are forced to have health insurance, at least Doctors would be getting something even if they're not getting fully reimbursed and insurance companies now don't even reimburse fully as it is.
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No :thumbdown:
 
Man, I'm all sorts of confused. In theory his plan sounds ok (help the people who don't have access to insurance or have pre-existing conditions and are denied left and right), but if doc's pay is cut and other insurances follow [which is what the case will be] then doc's will have to either take cash (average doc can't do that, people don't have that much cash) then eventually docs will need to accept low payments. Old guys can afford to just retire, those with student loans and current students will have no other choice. And then starts the headache of investment vs return for medical school students and debt+ life on hold for 7+ years. I wish the bill would be explained in full before it's voted on and implemented. Everything sounds great when delivered by politicians.
 
People will always be afraid of changes. We get comfortable with something and don't want to let go. I used to be a manager for a small company. One day the owner's son came in and uprooted everything. Installed a whole new system on me overnight with no warning. I was so anti to his decisions that I considered leaving the company. Shortly thereafter (right before I left for school) I realized that the system was in fact way better than the original way of doing things. I had just become so accustomed to my daily routine that it was how things had to be.

Now I 100% realize that changing the way a company is run and installing mandated healthcare are COMPLETELY different things, but the point is still there. We fear change.

I dont think anyone really knows what is going to happen. I do think its fair to say that there will be a lot of amendments to the bill over time. Its far from perfect and everyone knows that. I'm not saying its going to be good or bad for healthcare, because I really don't know.

Worry all you want but I'm going to study.
 
MaxillofacialMN said:
Studying during the summer is the worst.
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Ehh its only bad 7 weeks before the end of the semester when you just want to relax or go out everyday and you know you wont be able to when the fall semester starts (WHICH IS COMING UP OMG).

(im in summer classes)
 
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