- Joined
- Aug 25, 2003
- Messages
- 1,758
- Reaction score
- 85
million med march
- Thread starter axm397
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,965
- Reaction score
- 2
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2003
- Messages
- 1,758
- Reaction score
- 85
Physicians Are Talking About: The Million Med March on Washington
Nancy R. Terry
Authors and Disclosures
Published: 09/15/2009
"I'm tired, mad as hell, and just not going to take it anymore," says Richard Chudacoff, MD, a gynecologist from Las Vegas. "I am going to Washington, DC. At noon, on Thursday, October 1, 2009, I will be on the Mall with a few other physicians."
Dr. Chudacoff is not talking about vacation plans. Rather, he intends to unite with other physicians in what he calls the Million Med March.
"We simply decided that we will not work that day and perhaps the day before and maybe even the day afterward," says Dr. Chudacoff. "Perhaps we will show the country that physicians are worth more than a $5 copay; that physicians are more important than a mid-level healthcare worker; and that our profession is needed, our services are required, and our practice is a calling to be respected, not a trade that is to be negotiated to the lowest bidder."
A letter posted by Dr. Chudacoff on www.obgyn.net in June has been spreading like wildfire across the Internet, finding its way to personal blogs, discussion groups, and professional forums. On June 23, it was posted to Medscape's Physician Connect (MPC), a physician-only discussion group, where it sparked a flurry of responses. A number of MPC postings suggest that Dr. Chudacoff will have plenty of company on October 1.
"Finally, something constructive," says a dermatologist. "I'll see you in DC on October 1. Some of the office staff, including our nurse, expressed a wish to be there too. Bring spouses and friends and anybody else who actually cares about healthcare in the US."
"I have cleared my schedule and plan to attend," responds a vascular surgeon. "I think this type of grassroots action, unaffiliated with hospitals, insurance companies, or the AMA, is likely to get the most sympathetic attention."
"This is the best proactive effort I have heard from physicians," says an MPC family medicine physician. "Actions speak louder than words."
"I can be there without changing my schedule," adds an anesthesiologist. "I was just terminated from my office-based practice where I have been for 7 years."
One physician's decision to take a stand and unite with his fellow colleagues has given doctors a simple way to show the public and elected officials that healthcare, for them, is not a political agenda. It is their life and livelihood. And in recent weeks, the partisan discussions in the Senate and House of Representatives on healthcare legislation have seemingly marginalized -- and at times even maligned -- physicians.
"I was for nationalized healthcare," says a family medicine physician, "but I thought that meant providing a safety net for needy Americans. But this monster of a bill is something quite different."
"Politicians and payers have turned our profession into a political football," retorts an anesthesiologist.
President Obama's recent tonsillectomy remark, in which he insinuated that doctors make medical decisions based on what they would be paid for a procedure rather than the best treatment for the patient, has further incensed physicians. "As a hard-working, conscientious physician, I am offended. It's like racial stereotyping. Only now it's about a group that is mostly overworked, tired, and saving people's lives," retorts a family medicine practitioner.
If the president is looking for greed within the healthcare system, Dr. Chudacoff suggests that he not take aim at primary care physicians. Chudacoff adds, "Medicine is going corporate, and we physicians are just flipping burgers so corporations have an improved bottom line."
Although fair compensation is an important issue among the organizers of the Million Med March, it is not the only issue. Medicine has become a toxic environment in which to work. Dr. Chudacoff underscores the situation. "Quality of care suffers with less time to see patients and less reimbursement received when we do see patients. We cannot do pro bono work as we have in the past because we have to see an ever increasing number of patients. This extra work is forced upon us when insurance companies, especially Medicare and Medicaid, constantly refuse to pay us in a timely fashion for our time and efforts. And then once we do see patients, our clinical acumen is stifled as we must follow a cookbook approach to patient care. It is time that we stand up for ourselves."
A vascular surgeon comments, "We can lead the way to real reform. Now is clearly the time to act, not just type."
On July 10, an MPC contributor and one of the supporters of the Million Med March launched a Website, www.millionmedmarch.com, to build support for the October event. The site announces a physician grassroots movement to re-establish honor, dignity, and worth to the medical profession. "The Million Med March movement has taken off, on so many sites, and within so many communities. Why now? The debate on national healthcare has forced this conversation, and this conversation has pushed us over the tipping point."
The mandate as stated on the Million Med March Website includes the following points:
Services must be adequately reimbursed so that we may spend more time with our patients and not be forced to see an unsafe number of patients to pay for increased business costs.
Less money must go into the hands of insurance companies' administrative costs, and more money must go towards patient care and medical research.
We must abolish third-party payers or prevent a single-payer system for office visits and medical services; these services are costly to the patient, physician, and society as a whole.
Our patients need access to brand-name drugs that are as affordable in the United States as in Canada and Mexico.
We must have medical malpractice reform, with caps on all damages, so that we can practice without the fear of needless and unwarranted lawsuits that only benefit attorneys.
Some MPC contributors voice concern that the Million Med March scheduled for October will occur too late to have any meaningful impact on healthcare reform. "The health reform bill is going nowhere," says an anesthesiologist. "Let's make a major statement between its failure and the next attempt to marginalize the docs."
A plastic surgeon adds, "Stand up for our profession and come to DC."
The full discussion of the Million Med March is available at: http://boards.medscape.com/forums/.29f44f1b.
View this and other discussions in Physician Connect (physicians only; click here to learn more).
Nancy R. Terry
Authors and Disclosures
Published: 09/15/2009
"I'm tired, mad as hell, and just not going to take it anymore," says Richard Chudacoff, MD, a gynecologist from Las Vegas. "I am going to Washington, DC. At noon, on Thursday, October 1, 2009, I will be on the Mall with a few other physicians."
Dr. Chudacoff is not talking about vacation plans. Rather, he intends to unite with other physicians in what he calls the Million Med March.
"We simply decided that we will not work that day and perhaps the day before and maybe even the day afterward," says Dr. Chudacoff. "Perhaps we will show the country that physicians are worth more than a $5 copay; that physicians are more important than a mid-level healthcare worker; and that our profession is needed, our services are required, and our practice is a calling to be respected, not a trade that is to be negotiated to the lowest bidder."
A letter posted by Dr. Chudacoff on www.obgyn.net in June has been spreading like wildfire across the Internet, finding its way to personal blogs, discussion groups, and professional forums. On June 23, it was posted to Medscape's Physician Connect (MPC), a physician-only discussion group, where it sparked a flurry of responses. A number of MPC postings suggest that Dr. Chudacoff will have plenty of company on October 1.
"Finally, something constructive," says a dermatologist. "I'll see you in DC on October 1. Some of the office staff, including our nurse, expressed a wish to be there too. Bring spouses and friends and anybody else who actually cares about healthcare in the US."
"I have cleared my schedule and plan to attend," responds a vascular surgeon. "I think this type of grassroots action, unaffiliated with hospitals, insurance companies, or the AMA, is likely to get the most sympathetic attention."
"This is the best proactive effort I have heard from physicians," says an MPC family medicine physician. "Actions speak louder than words."
"I can be there without changing my schedule," adds an anesthesiologist. "I was just terminated from my office-based practice where I have been for 7 years."
One physician's decision to take a stand and unite with his fellow colleagues has given doctors a simple way to show the public and elected officials that healthcare, for them, is not a political agenda. It is their life and livelihood. And in recent weeks, the partisan discussions in the Senate and House of Representatives on healthcare legislation have seemingly marginalized -- and at times even maligned -- physicians.
"I was for nationalized healthcare," says a family medicine physician, "but I thought that meant providing a safety net for needy Americans. But this monster of a bill is something quite different."
"Politicians and payers have turned our profession into a political football," retorts an anesthesiologist.
President Obama's recent tonsillectomy remark, in which he insinuated that doctors make medical decisions based on what they would be paid for a procedure rather than the best treatment for the patient, has further incensed physicians. "As a hard-working, conscientious physician, I am offended. It's like racial stereotyping. Only now it's about a group that is mostly overworked, tired, and saving people's lives," retorts a family medicine practitioner.
If the president is looking for greed within the healthcare system, Dr. Chudacoff suggests that he not take aim at primary care physicians. Chudacoff adds, "Medicine is going corporate, and we physicians are just flipping burgers so corporations have an improved bottom line."
Although fair compensation is an important issue among the organizers of the Million Med March, it is not the only issue. Medicine has become a toxic environment in which to work. Dr. Chudacoff underscores the situation. "Quality of care suffers with less time to see patients and less reimbursement received when we do see patients. We cannot do pro bono work as we have in the past because we have to see an ever increasing number of patients. This extra work is forced upon us when insurance companies, especially Medicare and Medicaid, constantly refuse to pay us in a timely fashion for our time and efforts. And then once we do see patients, our clinical acumen is stifled as we must follow a cookbook approach to patient care. It is time that we stand up for ourselves."
A vascular surgeon comments, "We can lead the way to real reform. Now is clearly the time to act, not just type."
On July 10, an MPC contributor and one of the supporters of the Million Med March launched a Website, www.millionmedmarch.com, to build support for the October event. The site announces a physician grassroots movement to re-establish honor, dignity, and worth to the medical profession. "The Million Med March movement has taken off, on so many sites, and within so many communities. Why now? The debate on national healthcare has forced this conversation, and this conversation has pushed us over the tipping point."
The mandate as stated on the Million Med March Website includes the following points:
Services must be adequately reimbursed so that we may spend more time with our patients and not be forced to see an unsafe number of patients to pay for increased business costs.
Less money must go into the hands of insurance companies' administrative costs, and more money must go towards patient care and medical research.
We must abolish third-party payers or prevent a single-payer system for office visits and medical services; these services are costly to the patient, physician, and society as a whole.
Our patients need access to brand-name drugs that are as affordable in the United States as in Canada and Mexico.
We must have medical malpractice reform, with caps on all damages, so that we can practice without the fear of needless and unwarranted lawsuits that only benefit attorneys.
Some MPC contributors voice concern that the Million Med March scheduled for October will occur too late to have any meaningful impact on healthcare reform. "The health reform bill is going nowhere," says an anesthesiologist. "Let's make a major statement between its failure and the next attempt to marginalize the docs."
A plastic surgeon adds, "Stand up for our profession and come to DC."
The full discussion of the Million Med March is available at: http://boards.medscape.com/forums/.29f44f1b.
View this and other discussions in Physician Connect (physicians only; click here to learn more).
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2007
- Messages
- 4,182
- Reaction score
- 36
<cynicism takes over...>
Nice idea, get some press, send a message to Washington.
But the president and democratic party really couldn't care less what doctors think. To them we are all over-educated, greedy bastards who expect high salaries for little work. We have no collective voice and the AMA speaks against us on our behalf. We are expected to put the patients above all else, even at our own expense. Altruism is the minimal standard in people's eyes. To expect to earn a living is seen as a conflict of interest.
Our government is filled with healthy people with Cadillac insurance, who have no concept of what we go through to get paid for our work. Their only agenda is getting elected again, and you do that by buying votes. Right now, you buy votes by giving people money and benefits. They are not going to listen to the doctors. Our opinions on health care reform are also seen as self-serving and as a conflict of interest.
What doctors want is irrelevant to our government. Until they are in the ER or OR, not one politcian will consider the long-term implications of their decisions on healthcare reform. And even then, they will only care that they get taken care of, and someone else foots the bill.
Nice idea, get some press, send a message to Washington.
But the president and democratic party really couldn't care less what doctors think. To them we are all over-educated, greedy bastards who expect high salaries for little work. We have no collective voice and the AMA speaks against us on our behalf. We are expected to put the patients above all else, even at our own expense. Altruism is the minimal standard in people's eyes. To expect to earn a living is seen as a conflict of interest.
Our government is filled with healthy people with Cadillac insurance, who have no concept of what we go through to get paid for our work. Their only agenda is getting elected again, and you do that by buying votes. Right now, you buy votes by giving people money and benefits. They are not going to listen to the doctors. Our opinions on health care reform are also seen as self-serving and as a conflict of interest.
What doctors want is irrelevant to our government. Until they are in the ER or OR, not one politcian will consider the long-term implications of their decisions on healthcare reform. And even then, they will only care that they get taken care of, and someone else foots the bill.
i agree with all of the points made above, but, docs cant just go on strike. call me idealistic, but i actually would feel bad if people die when we dont go to work. pain docs are one thing -- our patients arent dying (except maybe "paindefender's"), but id hate to see the subdural hematoma patient die because the neurosurgeon was holding a picket sign. it is in DIRECT contradiction of the hippocratic oath.
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,965
- Reaction score
- 2
Yes, but on the other side, MANY a physician is leaving XYZ state due to a large rise in medical-legal and reimbursement issues. For example, said neurosurgeon could potentially NOT be in a 2-3 state radius since that particular state has no tort reform.
So....fix the system first. Physicians need to be at the negotiating table. No one wants to hurt patients. We need to show congress/the american people that physicians are serious about this issue.
THe people currently hurting patients on a 'massive' scale are the lawyers, legislators, and the potential ObamaCare standards. Remove the prohibitive restrictions on physicians and better patient care will arise.
1) the crack about paindefender made me laugh out loud, enough that people looked at me...
2) I think we all should strike! Im tired of people thinking that our situation is different from any other citizen out there. If they want to treat us like we are nothing but worker bees for thier use, then we will act like any other group of dis-satisfied worker bees, and strike.
I might go to this thing if i can...
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2007
- Messages
- 4,182
- Reaction score
- 36
As one of my parters says, "Vote with your feet" - walk away from what you don't get paid for.
Stop taking Medicaid/Public Aid. Opt out of Medicare. Go out-of-network for private insurance. If you can't make it that way in your current market, find a new one and let the suckers left behind slowly strangle themselves.
Stop taking Medicaid/Public Aid. Opt out of Medicare. Go out-of-network for private insurance. If you can't make it that way in your current market, find a new one and let the suckers left behind slowly strangle themselves.
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2002
- Messages
- 5,332
- Reaction score
- 138
agreed...
i had a patient today whose insurance plans just changed at work, and as of next week i am out-of-network.... he is pissed off... not at me, but at his new insurance plan - so he called to complain.
the ins. plan rep tells him that I must not really care about patients, because i didn't sign up with them... and then she had the gall to tell him, that he should convince me to join the plan... he asked her "what is the commission going to be on me recruiting a new doctor for you guys"... he was told that is not how things work...
another ins. comp. contacted my office yesterday stating that they didn't receive my new malpractice coverage info by XYZ date and because of that they are reverting to a % of medicare (about 15% lower than current fee schedule) until I respond...
1st of all, i have been with them for 3 years now and they never asked (beyond my initial credentialing w/ them) for new malpractice coverage proof....
2nd... my contract with them starts in January - so why this would be an issue in September is beyond me...
3rd... i never got a notification that they were requesting this...
So when i called them, they told me to go their website and to log in to review the "provider updates" i should have been reading - they never told me about that part during the last 3 years and i don't remember that in my contract
Then when I get to "provider updates", there is a small paragraph on "malpractice verification" from 2 months ago...
Unfortunately, my initial contract (in the fine print) states that they can change my fee schedule at any point in time...
I told them they aren't getting my malpractice info - because I am going out of network... they said that would be fine... i pointed out that i am the last pain guy in about 40 mile radius with that specific insurance, and they are going to be stuck paying me out of network fees... well, the rep - with a smile on her face (i could tell over the phone) - tells me that it doesn't make a difference for them because they pay out-of-network at a % of in-network rates and that the patient will be responsible for the rest - thus it will actually be cheaper for them if i am out of network...
are you kidding me?!!
i am so sick of this...
every few months i have to deal with the potential bad news of another mandated cut to my reimbursements because of economic/utilization issues...
i am seeing on average 70 patients and doing 45 procedures more per month for the same monthly income i generated last year seeing less folk... in the long run, patient safety/satisfaction is going to really start butting heads with forced efficiencies.
i had a patient today whose insurance plans just changed at work, and as of next week i am out-of-network.... he is pissed off... not at me, but at his new insurance plan - so he called to complain.
the ins. plan rep tells him that I must not really care about patients, because i didn't sign up with them... and then she had the gall to tell him, that he should convince me to join the plan... he asked her "what is the commission going to be on me recruiting a new doctor for you guys"... he was told that is not how things work...
another ins. comp. contacted my office yesterday stating that they didn't receive my new malpractice coverage info by XYZ date and because of that they are reverting to a % of medicare (about 15% lower than current fee schedule) until I respond...
1st of all, i have been with them for 3 years now and they never asked (beyond my initial credentialing w/ them) for new malpractice coverage proof....
2nd... my contract with them starts in January - so why this would be an issue in September is beyond me...
3rd... i never got a notification that they were requesting this...
So when i called them, they told me to go their website and to log in to review the "provider updates" i should have been reading - they never told me about that part during the last 3 years and i don't remember that in my contract
Then when I get to "provider updates", there is a small paragraph on "malpractice verification" from 2 months ago...
Unfortunately, my initial contract (in the fine print) states that they can change my fee schedule at any point in time...
I told them they aren't getting my malpractice info - because I am going out of network... they said that would be fine... i pointed out that i am the last pain guy in about 40 mile radius with that specific insurance, and they are going to be stuck paying me out of network fees... well, the rep - with a smile on her face (i could tell over the phone) - tells me that it doesn't make a difference for them because they pay out-of-network at a % of in-network rates and that the patient will be responsible for the rest - thus it will actually be cheaper for them if i am out of network...
are you kidding me?!!
i am so sick of this...
every few months i have to deal with the potential bad news of another mandated cut to my reimbursements because of economic/utilization issues...
i am seeing on average 70 patients and doing 45 procedures more per month for the same monthly income i generated last year seeing less folk... in the long run, patient safety/satisfaction is going to really start butting heads with forced efficiencies.
time for you to get an NP, and start "seeing" more people.
the time will come when patients will never see a doctor except for procedures or for serious problems. THe patients will be pissed and complain, but this is what their insurance wants us to.
If the payers want to cut my re-imbursement then they are telling me I need to see more patients. If i am to see more patients, i need help, that help will be in the form of an NP, and soon a PA for me. They will see ALL of my patients, i will pop in maybe for a second, but I will do the procedure. ALL post-ops will be done by the PA, all new patient evals by the NP. It will will be a block shop of epic proportions, and I will not feel bad about it...
now im not really gonna do that, but you get my point. I tell patients evey day that the cuts are forcing me to spend less time with you, and thats why they ahve to see my NP from time to time. Increasing number of new patients are seen with me and my NP, then often followed by my NP if no interventions are required. She fills my pumps and sees the inpatients.
Its not what i want, but 20% busier from last year, and making the same money basically, I aint gonna be working harder (longer) to take home less...
it sucks. my kid is going to be a doctor for halloween, the closest he will ever get to being a doctor if things dont change...
im going to change my lifestyle and work less......i dont care if i make less cuz the upcoming tax changes will eat the difference if i make the same or more, so what's the point?
But back to the topic, give this info to Glen Beck and see what happens.
But back to the topic, give this info to Glen Beck and see what happens.
wow.....how did u get from here to there? If you would lay off the inuendos and passive aggressive attacks/sarcastic comments, id really appreciate it. We get that you dont like/agree with conservatives....no need to keep reminding us.
to clarify, my post meant to say that since Glenn Beck can organize conservatives pretty well(tea parties, the Mall recently), he would probably organize a million med march pretty well too. I cant watch the guy too much cuz i get a headache and get depressed. The ACORN videos were watchable though. My post meant nothing more than that. But i can see how you drew the conclusion now that i look back on it.
