Universal Health Care

[saftab]

The net result is very predictable: (1) higher taxes for everyone who is already insured, and (2) lower pay for physicians. So really, physicians will get hit twice, hit from both ends.

Somehow I don't feel that anyone is going to feel sorry for physicians if they make a few thousand dollars less. Anyway the overall positive impact on the economy & the society far outweighs the negative impact.

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[Gut Shot]

The net result is very predictable: (1) higher taxes for everyone who is already insured, and (2) lower pay for physicians. So really, physicians will get hit twice, hit from both ends.

Brilliant analysis. Here's another scenario: everyone pays into the system via taxation, obviating the need for individual insurance. The net result: overall personal expenditure is less than before. Moreover, uncompensated care is likewise obviated and administrative overhead is significantly reduced, thus improving the bottom line for most physicians.

 

[Gut Shot]

There is your problem. Guess what? There isn't enough to go around.

Actually there probably is enough to go around, but our allocation is so poor that you'd never know it. In fact, only 10% of the population accounts for a 64% of the total health care expenditure in this nation (Ref).

 

[LizzyM]

I recall a conversation a few years ago with a physician who began practicing medicine circa 1960. His father-in-law was also a physician and the old doc was vigorously opposed to "socialized medicine". Medicare and Medicaid was enacted against his protests. That generation who began their practices in the 1960s made far more $ than the generation before them thanks to advances in technology (doctors could do more) and changes in reimbursement including Medicare (you could actually get paid cash rather than potatoes).

Changes in the system might actually prove beneficial to physicians. It would not surprise me.

 

[Hernandez]

great, government run healthcare: The efficiency of the DMV combined with the compassion of the IRS. I'm looking forward to it........

 

[Phishfood]

Here's a question: How would a single payer system change the business side of health care? Would all physicians of a specifice subspecialty get paid, relatively, the same? How would one physician distinguish himself, open multiple offices, expand his practice, own a practice with other physicians working under him, etc?

In other words, aside from not having to bill mulitple insurance companies, how do you think a single payer system will change the face of health care, from the physician's standpoint?