13 Responses to “Would Doctors Earn Less If The United States Government Offers Universal Health Care?”

1. 

   Kiran C said on Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 19:22

   Maybe. Maybe not. When Medicare and Medicare reimbursement rates were cut, doctors saw more patients or offered other medical services.
2. 

   AZ said on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 0:17

   Absolutely; not only WILL doctors make less under a universal health care plan, but doctors are ALREADY making less than they were 10-20 years ago, even with inflation going up. President Obama proposes that patients receive the best quality health care at the lowest possible cost, but in the doctors’ and nurses’ perspective, he is essentially saying that they have to work as hard as possible for the least amount of income. That is why I think his quote is significantly flawed. The government is already in debt, and even if those making more than $250,000 are taxed 100%, it still will not be enough to compensate for all of the already reduced incomes in the health care system, so certainly incomes will earn less. I just fear that our physicians will soon be earning so few dollars that their lifestyles will be not much different from a high school dropout because of their malpractice insurance and medical school debts which accumulate to more than $200,000. It’s like being forced to purchase two houses. Imagine what will happen if Obama wins a second term. It is a common misconception that doctors are rich. Doctors are NOT rich. Because of this misconception, people always try to sue doctors, many liberal democrats have proposed to impose a special tax just on doctors, and doctors are the first people to be cut by insurance companies. The average physician makes $150,000 per year. $30,000 goes to income taxes. Another $30,000 goes to malpractice insurance. Another $30,000 goes to paying of medical school debts. Now the doctor is left with $60,000. That is not much higher than the median household income in the US. The bad news: it will only get worse.
3. 

   xila31 said on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 1:56

   Actually they are not planning on universal health care. This whole socialist thing is just propaganda. What is actually happening is that they are going to make a government based option for people who either a) do not receive health care through work, b) cannot afford health care on their own but make too much money for Medicaid. I also hope that it will be an option to drop the health care at your job and take the government plan if the one at your work is too expensive.
   So you see, it is not socialist because it will force the private health plans to be competitive, which is the main source of capitalism.
   Antoher part of health care reform is to force insuance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions and to pay claims in a timely manner. Right now insurance companies can take their time in paying, but if the bill isn’t sent to them within a set time they can refuse to pay. How is that balanced? It isn’t. Hopefully more insurance companies will cover for more conditions such as education for pre-diabetes, which is preventative of someone getting type 2 diabetes.
   It costs $15,000 a year to cover my family under our insurance plan, not counting $30 per office visit co-pay, plus any cost of medications. Out of that $15,000 last year the insurance company only paid about $1000 for my entire family. The rest was their profit. They don’t put that into a savings account for you.
   If you want to be a surgeon then go for it, but only because it is something you want to do and not only for the paycheck. Working in the heath field needs to be about caring for patients and not having a big house or an expensive car. Of course we need to make enough to feed our families, but I work in health care and I can’t even afford to see my doctor. How does that work, exactly?
4. 

   Sawyer said on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 5:37

   We aren’t going Universal (yet). Obama is putting together a reform (a crappy reform), which will inevitably decrease the amount of money doctors make because less company’s will be offering health insurance and less individuals will be paying for quality care….when the hospital brings in less money, the staff will take a hit.
   You could always work for the government as a doctor, but I’m sure they’ll make even less than the private company doctors.
5. 

   gigreg13 said on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 8:08

   Absolutely, this is why there are dozens of organizations of Dr’s against universal healthcare.
   It means they spent all thsoe years in school and get themselves into all that debt just to end up as underpaid government employee’s.
   If you think Obama’s plan is going to pas than I would choose another field if I were you.
6. 

   future said on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 9:02

   They may actually make more, because there would (hopefully) finally be some rules in place keeping Doctors from getting sued millions of dollars for things they couldn’t have prevented. Lawsuits drive their liability insurance premiums up over $100,000 in many cases! And the more more technology there is, the more the public expects that they can save each and every person, which is just not possible.
7. 

   Felonius Monkey said on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 11:51

   It is completely false. Doctors pay would remain unchanged – the real losers are the executives at HMOs. Over the last 8 years healthcare costs have risen by about 80%. Have doctor’s salaries risen by 80% during that same time frame? Of course not. The money has gone to admin costs and overhead for HMOs.
8. 

   danrathe said on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 16:48

   Universal health care is a misnomer. That name implies that everything gets covered. When a government clerk can decide if you are worth the medical expenses and how much the doctor will be paid, it will be worse than now.
9. 

   Darwin said on Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 20:47

   Physicians cried SOCIALISM when Medicare was proposed. Ronnie Reagan became famous my making a speech against socialized medicine. They all got rich from it.
10. 

    Chewy said on Thursday, November 12, 2009, 3:14

    Yes Universal Heath Care will mean we will lose the services of people like yourself who became doctors for the money.
    What a loss, however shall we cope?
11. 

    eagle said on Thursday, November 12, 2009, 4:08

    Yes, the good doctors will go to countries where they will get paid the most. That is why NOW we have the best doctors in this country. This will all change when Obama has his way.
12. 

    Warren T said on Thursday, November 12, 2009, 8:41

    Yes, unless you are good enough to cater to the wealthy
13. 

    Blacksmi said on Thursday, November 12, 2009, 9:07

    Stay away from the AMA.