Doc salaries...

Too little, too late. The average Joe still thinks about doctors as millionaires.

 

good to at least see this mentioned, maybe it will get more popular recognition. I think physician income totals something like 8-9% of total health care expenditures in the US.

 

The "overspending" on physician salaries is marginal compared to other OECD countries, and likely ends up being a wash when massive student loan debt burdens and malpractice costs are factored in. I wonder why people never look at nurse salaries. Generalist physicians are paid by roughly 46% and specialists make 66% more when compared to the OECD average, but nurses are paid 27% and overstaffed by an additional 27%, resulting in spending on nurses being 52% higher than most developed countries overall. There's 2.6 million nurses, pulling in an average salary of $65,470, of which $22,397 is excess spending, for a total excess of $59.64 billion. To put that in perspective, Medicare paid out a total of $77 billion to 880,000 providers in FY 2012.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/09/news/economy/medicare-doctors/ (source for medicare spending amount)

http://theincidentaleconomist.com/w...care-system-so-expensive-health-care-workers/ (source for nurse pay and staffing ratio, physician pay ratios compared to OECD countries)

 

Stupid people, just like non-stupid people, like having something to talk about and rally about. When their interest wanes on "physician overcompensation" they will move on to something else which surprisingly for most people (not surprising for me) could be even more stupid.

 

I'll tell you why: because people are spoiled and want their comfort. They want to have a nurse around the clock, not only when truly needed. Try whining in European state-owned hospital like you were in the US, and see what the nurses' reaction will be. Having many nurses also contributes to high patient satis****tion scores, which are directly linked to the incentive pay of hospital administrators.

Let's not speak about all the money wasted on "visiting nurses" (I've met a few of those specimens, and they work as hard as I do during my coffee break).

 

There would be greater awareness (notice I didn't say impact) if this appeared on Jimmy Fallon rather than the NYTimes…

 

Do you mean home health nurses? If so, I take issue with that statement. They certainly don't work as hard as an anesthesiologist, but they definitely work harder than you on your coffee break (unless your coffee break is particularly stressful...)