83% of US doctors considering quitting because of Obamacare

[Dreadnought]

There's even worse news, too:

Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020. The new health care law increases demand for physicians by expanding insurance coverage. This change will exacerbate the current shortage as more Americans live past 65.

By 2025 the shortage will balloon to over 130,000, Len Marquez, the director of government relations at the American Association of Medical Colleges, told The Daily Caller.

Source: http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/09/r...tors-have-considered-quitting-over-obamacare/

What are your reactions? It seems to me that the new healthcare situation is corrupting the current situation even more. I for one will not consider entering medical school at all, with the new healthcare system evolving.

I apologize for any errors; I'm posting via mobile.

 

[Cutlass]

Funny that Google has no hits on this from news organizations....

 

[Turquoiside]

@ only 669 out of 16, 227 responses being included in the final calculation.

 

[Quintillus]

Well, I highly doubt that 83% of doctors will end up quitting their jobs. It's worth noting that the sample size isn't gigantic, so I'm skeptical the percentage would be nearly as high if the survey cast a wider net.

There is an issue for doctors in that generally, private-pay patients pay the most, followed by insured patients, followed by Medicare. So I suppose if you theorize that the influx of lower-end patients might push your primary care doctor's patient mix to a slightly less wealthy mix, lowering per-patient revenue. There's also the issue that with insurance, there will be higher demand for primary care physicians (although possibly lower for acute care if preventative care is received where it wasn't before).

But I guess I don't see what the big issue for doctors is. And the article really doesn't shed any light on this, either. For primary care doctors, it seems like it would increase the number of potential patients, which is good if you aren't already at capacity at your practice. And the new patients are still going to be a revenue source, if not the most lucrative.

 

[Leonel]

So much for the Hippocratic oath. I guess that was just more something to pat themselves on the back with.

 

[Evie]

Can we have a survey that's not the work of a known National Tea Party Federation affilitate?

( http://www.thenationalteapartyfederation.com/Membership_List.html , Doctor-Patient Medical Association is listed 9th on the affiliate list)

 

[kramerfan86]

I dont believe this number, but I complained back when the law was passed that not nearly enough was being done to add more medical professionals. We have shortages across the board and the bill really failed to address that problem. At the end of the day I fear rationing could occur by necessity.

 

[downtown]

I can't understand at all why you would rule out Medical School because of this ruling.

As for addressing doctor shortage, the only way we'll be able to fix this is by either making immigration easier, or by significantly improving STEM education...neither of which are likely to be addressed in a health care bill.

 

[peter grimes]

Umm, there's already a severe shortage of GP's, and that's been a trend for the last 25-30 years. Why? Because of the perverse incentives the current system fosters. You can make serious bank of you are a specialist.

Cuba has a more efficient health care system than the US, and it's in large part due to the incentive structure.

This is NOT rocket science. But it IS influenced by the corporate status-quo, which is why we see garbage in = garbage out.

 

[Formaldehyde]

The Daily Caller? Really? The National Enquirer and Conservapedia were offline?

 

[Cynovolans]

I was going through the study and read some of the reactions of the doctors. Some were funny, some were weird, and some are just sad.

It’s really depressing. It bothers me several to many
times every day, “Why the hell did I invest 34 years to be
a very low level 99%er?”
Orthopedist, NY

ALLEGED “FACTS” ABOUT LOWER CARE IN USA ARE
PURE FALLACY. Cancer care, heart disease, infant care
in US is second to NONE! Other countries don’t count
those who die before they see a doc, or have as many
hopeless drug addicted babies due to Maternal Chem
depency! The USA Major media should hang its head in
SHAME for lying to US public!
Electronic med records should be trashed or at least
not connected to outside electronic world to help avoid
confidentiality abuse.
Neurologist, MO

American healthcare is finished. The damage done by
government/corporate control is irreversible…Only the
powerful will have decent medical care (government
employees)
Neurologist, FL

Some of the doctor replies are more fitting for youtube than a study.

 

[JollyRoger]

With increased demand, why would anyone quit? Looks like a goldmine.

 

[Formaldehyde]

What are they going to do instead? Join the military? Work at McDonalds?

 

[JollyRoger]

Have tea parties

 

[woody60707]

FaceBooked!

 

[emzie]

The survey was conducted by fax and online from April 18 to May 22, 2012. DPMAF obtained the office fax numbers of 36,000 doctors in active clinical practice, and 16, 227 faxes were successfully delivered. Doctors were asked to return their completed surveys by fax, or online at a web address included in the faxed copy. Browser rules prevented doctors from filing duplicate surveys, and respondents were asked to provide personal identification for verification. The response rate was 4.3% for a total of 699 completed surveys.

I normally try and write detailed, sensical rebuttals but bwahaahahaahaahahahahaahaha what a worthless survey. No point even discussing this thread really.

 

[Zelig]

I consider quitting lots of jobs quite frequently, even if they're awesome, I don't see how this is noteworthy?

If your job changes, you need to consider whether you want to stay at your job or look for something different. Same deal if your life situation changes.

 

[Joecoolyo]

What are they going to do instead? Join the military? Work at McDonalds?

Dammit Forma you stole my post!

 

[MobBoss]

What are they going to do instead? Join the military? Work at McDonalds?

Become programmers.

 

[Core Imposter]

Doctors are people too.