The fat lady has sung, turn out the lights, I can’t believe what I just read. I actually agree with and applaud frequent blog-target Steffie Woolhandler who tiptoes away from the radical left with her latest study:
Cambridge doctors light years away on the political spectrum from the conservative president have written a paper that also casts the government as part of a problem. Drs. Karen Lasser, Steffie Woolhandler, and David Himmelstein of Cambridge Health Alliance plant blame for pay gaps between specialists and generalists squarely on the government, saying its policies help perpetuate a primary care physician shortage.The doctors, who in other arenas have favored a government-funded single-payer system something like Canada’s, analyzed payment data for outpatient visits and found that government sources, including Medicaid and Medicare, make up one-third of total physician income. They conclude that changes in how the government reimburses doctors could reduce gaps that in the case of geriatricians mean they are paid an average of $165,000 a year while hematologists get $504,000.
Bravo Steffie, the center isn’t a bad place to be, is it?
Related posts:
- The cost of "free" health care
- Steffie Woolhandler: Bias taints her study
- Single-payer: Is the ivory tower this naive?
- Myth: "Universal coverage means better care"
- The Boston Globe gets primary care
- Health care reform is "dead in the water" without primary care
- Safety-net hospital financial woes
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