Survey: US Doctors Fear Healthcare Reform

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Poll: Nearly two-thirds of doctors think ObamaCare could make health care worse

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. doctors surveyed fear healthcare reform could worsen care for patients, by flooding their offices and hurting income, according to a Thomson Reuters survey released Tuesday.

The survey of more than 2,900 doctors found many predict the legislation will force them to work harder for less money.
“When asked about the quality of healthcare in the U.S. over the next five years, 65 percent of the doctors believed it would deteriorate with only 18 percent predicting it would improve,” Thomson Reuters, parent company of Reuters, said in a statement.
The U.S. House of Representatives began debate Tuesday on efforts to repeal President Barack Obama’s overhaul of the U.S. healthcare industry.

cnbc.com/id/41149280
 
“only 18 percent predicting it would improve”

I am surprized the number is that high, frankly. No one in thier right mind actually thinks that the **quality **would improve. But some are willing to sacrifice the quality for uniformity and what they hope is more coverage.
 
Funny how you can go into an emergency treatment centre anywhere in the US and be treated even without health insurance.

And I’m still waiting for someone to explain why it’s okay to fine people or send them to jail for not buying health insurance. Anyone? Bueller?
 
Borealis said:
Funny how you can go into an emergency treatment centre anywhere in the US and be treated even without health insurance.
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Most ER’s will not treat non-emergencies. The doctor will very politely send you out.
 
mark_a said:
Most ER’s will not treat non-emergencies. The doctor send you out.
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If it’s not an emergency, then why would you be going to an emergency room in the first place? And does you statement apply to all, or just those without insurance?
 
Borealis said:
If it’s not an emergency, then why would you be going to an emergency room in the first place? And does you statement apply to all, or just those without insurance?
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Many times in discussions here on these forums, folks will imply that emergency rooms must treat anyone, anywhere, anytime, for any illness that walks in the door, which is not true. If I mistook your intent, I’m sorry.
 
mark_a said:
Health care won’t get worse for folks without health care.
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There is a HUGE difference between HEALTH CARE and HEALTH INSURANCE.

Everyone does have health care.

You can get health insurance if you could shop freely for it. But you can’t because the Federal and state laws don’t permit it.

And the Federal government sets reimbursement rates at 80% of costs.

How could you survive if you could only collect 80% of your costs?
 
mark_a said:
Most ER’s will not treat non-emergencies. The doctor will very politely send you out.
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That’s simply not true.

You may have to wait.

But I don’t have a personal physician. So, until they opened up those store front “Urgent Care” places, I used to go the the emergency room. They treat worse first. So I used to wait.

And I have relatives who use the ER all the time, including once on Christmas Eve, all for non-emergencies.

AND, decades ago, they had what they used to call “clinics” … basically, they took everyone who presented themselves. Regardless of ability to pay.

You didn’t have your choice of doctor; you got whoever was on duty.

So, some of my relatives went and bought insurance so they could choose their own doctor instead of having to settle for whoever had the duty.
 
Monte_RCMS said:
AND, decades ago, they had what they used to call “clinics” … basically, they took everyone who presented themselves. Regardless of ability to pay.
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Decades ago doesn’t interest me.
You didn’t have your choice of doctor; you got whoever was on duty.
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We are speaking of two different services, the one you describe is luck-of-the-draw, stop-gap health care.
 
Monte_RCMS said:
There is a HUGE difference between HEALTH CARE and HEALTH INSURANCE.

Everyone does have health care.

You can get health insurance if you could shop freely for it. But you can’t because the Federal and state laws don’t permit it.

And the Federal government sets reimbursement rates at 80% of costs.

How could you survive if you could only collect 80% of your costs?
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Quite simple; they charge the patient 125%, get back reimbursement of 100%. in other words jack up the costs to cover their expenses.
 
mark_a said:
Most ER’s will not treat non-emergencies. The doctor will very politely send you out.
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There is not the slightest possibility I can accept that as a general thing. I read far too many hospital records, particularly Medicaid patient records, from too many places to think that’s true. People get treated for all sorts of non-emergencies at ERs; sometimes even when they already have a treating physician for the condition of which they complain and it’s in their chart that they do.

Maybe somewhere it’s so, but I have never seen it.
 
Monte_RCMS said:
That’s simply not true.

You may have to wait.

But I don’t have a personal physician. So, until they opened up those store front “Urgent Care” places, I used to go the the emergency room. They treat worse first. So I used to wait.

And I have relatives who use the ER all the time, including once on Christmas Eve, all for non-emergencies.

AND, decades ago, they had what they used to call “clinics” … basically, they took everyone who presented themselves. Regardless of ability to pay.

You didn’t have your choice of doctor; you got whoever was on duty.

So, some of my relatives went and bought insurance so they could choose their own doctor instead of having to settle for whoever had the duty.
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Not talking about years ago.

Talking about now, before and before that.

My wife worked in admitting.

It’s a fact.

No insurance, they take you and a social worker works with you.
 
gamewell45 said:
Quite simple; they charge the patient 125%, get back reimbursement of 100%. in other words jack up the costs to cover their expenses.
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Actually, the whole thing is bogus. The real “profitability rate” is somewhere below Medicare rate, which, itself is supposed to be a deep discount. Insurers rarely pay 80%, and usually pay even less than Medicare rate, which is supposed to be about 60% of “reasonable and necessary” for most things.

The doctors who won’t take Medicare are of two general types: The docs with the super reputations who can do whatever they want to do and charge whatever they want to charge. And the docs who don’t want the paperwork and all the cost of the staff they have to have in order to do all the paperwork that’s involved. Those kind often won’t take your insurance either, and expect you to pay in cash and get reimbursed by your own carrier. Usually those are the docs in the specialty clinics where some will take Medicare or insurance and some super-super specialists can avoid doing it.

Hard to blame them very much. Insurance is a hassle for providers, but government coverage is even worse. Also, both are getting deeper and deeper into “evidence based medicine” (mechanical approach) and the more rarefied the speciality, the harder it is to get past that.
 
gamewell45 said:
Quite simple; they charge the patient 125%, get back reimbursement of 100%. in other words jack up the costs to cover their expenses.
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No!

HCFA sets the actual reimbursements and they get audited all the time.
 
A caller to a radio talk show, today:

CALLER: I happen to be an ER nurse, and I run the department, and I’m telling you, people are not denied anything. If they come to an ER and they don’t have a primary, we refer them to a primary, we refer them to clinics they need to get to. I watch my staff daily working their rear ends off to get people into the right places where they need to go. If you need help, you get it.

I’m appalled! It’s slap in my face. It’s a slap to everybody out there working the front lines on a daily basis. I take offense to what she [Maxine Waters & Sheila Jackson Lee] said. I truly do.

HOST: This is one reason why people don’t have insurance. They know they can go to the emergency room any time and you people are gonna take care of them as though they had money to pay for it.

CALLER: We spend gazillions of money on people without money. Traumas. I mean you come through the door and I’ve heard a lot of people say that, you know, the Arizona Senator she got special care, are you nuts? I’ve worked trauma units and you get the same care with every person who walks in the door. It’s a trauma. Hello. We work on you.

HOST: I’m glad you said that. That is the point I made about this. Only in this country in whatever city that accident happened could she get the best health care available.

CALLER: Exactly.

HOST: In Canada they’d have to come here for it most of the time.

CALLER: Yes. I mean EMSers take you to the right level one trauma to get the care that you need. We don’t stand around saying, “Hmm, let’s check their wallet and see what they got in there.” Oh, I’m just screaming!

HOST: By the way, the spokesman on that sound bite was Sheila Jackson Lee from your state. She’s from over in Houston.

CALLER: Well, you know, running an ER and seeing how hard my staff works every day, we spend hours on referrals. There are social workers who spend hours in the ER to make sure that these people get follow-up.
 
Ridgerunner said:
There is not the slightest possibility I can accept that as a general thing. I read far too many hospital records, particularly Medicaid patient records, from too many places to think that’s true. People get treated for all sorts of non-emergencies at ERs; sometimes even when they already have a treating physician for the condition of which they complain and it’s in their chart that they do.

Maybe somewhere it’s so, but I have never seen it.
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And to add insult to injury, the quality of care received at an ER is pretty far down the scale.
 
mark_a said:
And to add insult to injury, the quality of care received at an ER is pretty far down the scale.
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No, that’s not true, either.

[Hey, you’re not doing too well with all the stuff you’re making up.]
 
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