No, just kidding. But physicians are finally wising up to an even greater threat: declining reimbursement.
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But, Kevin, you’re not supposed to go into medicine for the MONEY….the satisfaction of helping all those sick people should MORE than make up for the fact that physicians get paid less each year as their responsibilities, techonogical skill and knowledge base grow….
Remember the Hippocratic Oath -”Self pay means no pay and insurance and Medicare pay even less….”
(Hey, everyone else makes up what the Oath is supposed to say, so I decided to try it myslf….it’s kind of fun….)
This article is right on. The problem with reimbursement is that providers are garnering a smaller piece of the healthcare pie while volume and expectations are higher than ever. Hospitals, diagnostic tests, imaging, and drug costs are the gluttons. It is okay to spend more dollars on health care if people want to; the alternative is to accept our imperfections, accept self-responsibility, and accept our mortality.
Look at the after-expense compensation figures at the top of the site. I have about as much sympathy for providers whining about only making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year as I would if I heard the same complaints from the CEO of Exxon. Fortunately for the providers, years of conditionig of the American sheeple has inured the same to even quisically evaluating the whining that comes from the provider class.
Me-thinks that the CEO of Exxon has compensation equal to $190k per DAY. Only surpassed in payday by the Kingpins of Class Action torts. Medical providers simply aren’t in this league, and are largely undercompensated when educational costs, opportunity costs, equivalent hourly wages, and potential liability are accounted for.
“…educational costs, opportunity costs, equivalent hourly wages, and potential liability are accounted for…”
All of which have squat to do with the money raked in by the “alloquaidas.” Restrict the supply while forcing the demand to go through this restricted supply for most services… That is the reason that the mean after-expense compensation rates for providers are the highest for any profession in this country.
As they should be. Given the length of training, educational costs, opportunity costs, long and irregular hours, level of responsibility and liability, the compensation should be the highest of any profession.
more concierge medicine is on the dock. free market will win anyway, whatever regulation someone wish to put,it never works.
“As they should be. Given the length of training, educational costs, opportunity costs, long and irregular hours, level of responsibility and liability, the compensation should be the highest of any profession.”
Other professions require years of training, have long hours, and lots of responsibility. There are scientists who go though a decade of training and make 40k. The baffling arrogance of these statements, generally coming from physicians who have never worked in any other field, is just staggering. Oh, and salaries are after liability insurance so it makes no sense to include that.
By the way, why is it that physicians are stauch defenders of the free market in medicine–except when it comes to their own salaries. There, they support a decidedly socialist salary determination, in which salary is determined by years of training, hours, and whatever other factors they think support high salaries for doctors.
“The baffling arrogance of these statements, generally coming from physicians who have never worked in any other field, is just staggering.”
Your baffling arrogance in such a sweeping statement is offensive. Some of us just happen to have had many menial jobs in research, waiting tables, killing mice and choking chickens (no, I am not making that up),etc., before making the investment of time and money to become a physician. Guess what? Some of us even VOLUNTEERED to do these things.
Many of those with lesser incomes have a huge head start, in many cases having ten years of income and 401k contributions before I turned my first dime. Not to mention that you go from a zero to the top tax bracket instead of earning money at the lower rates most working people pay. How many working people have a negative net worth well into their thirties and have a six figure mortgage (i.e. medical school debt)before they have a roof over their head?
And I do support the free market. The free market rate is HIGHER than I am paid by any third party payor. Get a clue.
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