One of the most concerning effects of the Healthcare Reform bill will be the restrictions and limits placed on the doctors first, and then the rest of us will follow. I know, as a Registered Nurse, the long hours and demands that are placed on physicians. Granted members of the healthcare team work long and hard hours, however I had never expected that I would ever have to take up the banner for patient advocate as I am today in fighting against socialized medicine.
I’m asked why as a nurse I would not want everyone to have health insurance. Why not just put everyone on the single payer plan, Carol? Sounds good, but is a bad idea. I know that the outstanding healthcare that we have today will begin to fade. When has the government ever run any entitlement program well? Just look at Social Security and Medicare. They have to tax us for 4 years before the program begins. That should be a red flag.
My father’s orthopedic surgeon retired 1 week after my dad’s surgery, one of the cardiac surgeons I know lamented that he’ll have to continue working, and other doctors have already begun to stop taking Medicare patients. Realistically would you just say yes if the government came to you and said that now you had to take so many customers and be paid less than it takes to operate your business? Doctors will have to. You couldn’t survive that way and neither can the doctors or hosptials!
But what about the patients? As I said, I am a patient advocate and am running for congress to prevent the cutbacks and decrease in patient care that will occur under Obamacare. The Healthcare bill authorizes 6,500 IRS agents to be hired but nothing for the training or hiring of any healthcare professionals. Instead of placing all citizens under government control in healthcare, why not free the companies, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and the patients to select their healthcare wherever they want to purchase it.
When you receive a bill or a statement from your insurance company do you see what was charged and what was paid? How can doctors be expected to operate a business if everyone else is telling them what they will pay them and yet do not take into account what it costs to have an office, pay for equipment, computers, staff, nurses, medicine, lab work, phones, answering services, MALPRACTICE INSURANCE, paper, self-employment taxes, printers, professional dues, continuing education classes, health insurance for all staff, retirement plans, and more. Doctors will be expected to maintain the level of medical care and a lower rate of pay.
The government currently has 20% of its workforce making more than $100,000 per year. The average of a primary care physician will make around $138,000. We have doctors that train for years, are on-call, work 50-60-70 hours or more per week. I’ve seen doctors when I leave that are still there when I come back for a 12 hour shift. So which is better, being an IRS agent who will make $100,000 per year going after taxpayers to make sure that they have insurance and not being sympathetic when you find them, or a doctor who is now required to work overtime, is away from their families and on call, unlike the IRS agent.
Who will be the doctors of tomorrow? The ones that the government appoints? Will individuals still want to become doctors or nurses? The healthcare plan punishes patients and doctors. Hospitals will be cutting back on staff since the cost of healthcare will increase and they won’t be able to staff the hospitals with enough nurses. I am so concerned about what will be happening to healthcare that I cannot stand by and not take action. Join me and let’s free our patients. Become a patient advocate today! If we wait, we risk our lives and those that will follow. Don’t deny anyone medical care, socialized medicine doesn’t work. If the Premier of Newfoundland comes to the US for heart surgery shouldn’t that be a hint that if the wonderful socialized medical system of Canada is not able to care for its citizens, then why would want a system like that?